Reading Time: 2 minutes Workforce challenges are having a worsening effect on farmers’ ability to meet their production and marketing goals and contribute to the economy according to new data published this week. Farms across the industry are poised for lost sales worth $2.9 billion in potential sales due to unfilled job vacancies, up from a previous forecast of […] Read more
More lost sales forecast in new labour market forecast study released June 25
Nearly half of Canada's farmers with jobs unfilled have delayed or cancelled farm business expansion plans
One line, two brands?
Kubota and Versatile partner up to build a tractor
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s been no secret that Winnipeg-based Versatile has had a new tractor line in development for the past several years. But maybe there’s more you need to know. Versatile has long been thought of as a producer of high-horsepower tractors. Historically, though, it has had a presence in a lower horsepower class with production of […] Read more
Farm fit
Maybe the phrase “Standardized Financial Benchmarks for Canadian Farm Financial Statements” doesn’t instantly get your blood pumping. But read on. Could this be the tool that lets you control your future?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Like many others, Larry Martin is convinced that Canada’s agriculture is evolving far faster than anyone driving a few miles of country sideroad could guess. The scenery hasn’t changed. At least, it hasn’t been transformed. It’s still a patchwork of crisp farmsteads and open fields, and of barns and bins. But those who live here […] Read more
Creating the outward-looking business
AME management: Do you know the type of culture you want for your business?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Last month’s column addressed outward-looking versus inward-looking businesses. The idea sensitized me to watch other organizations (and to check myself!) to find evidence of one or the other. Often, the evidence is mixed. Three examples A hotel where we have hosted CTEAM for several years had the same three young guys providing support for the […] Read more
Lease or buy?
Accountant dispels the tax advantage myth of leasing
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s been offered as accepted fact in more than a few coffee shop conversations that leasing equipment offers significant tax advantages to farmers. Talk to the sales staff at dealerships and you’ll likely hear them make the same claim. Even so, Lance Stockbrugger, a chartered accountant and cash crop producer from Saskatchewan, says the idea […] Read more
The Farmers Business Network revolution
FBN says it is going to revolutionize agriculture, making farmers way more competitive. The service is off to a good start
Reading Time: 6 minutes As farmers, we may be on the verge of a transformational change in the way farmers conduct business and manage their operations all because of the Silicon Valley start-up: “Farmers Business Network.” History is littered with farmer and peasant uprisings. Because of the disorganization of these farmer rebellions and quick suppression by governing elites, most […] Read more
Room to grow organic
Farmers are upping their organic output, but they’re still a long way from meeting the demand of the two-thirds of Canadians who sometimes or always shop for organic
Reading Time: 5 minutes Led by Millennial buyers, demand for organic food across Canada is growing robustly. Demand is surging ahead of domestic production, which has been growing but not nearly fast enough to keep up. “Demand is definitely outpacing supply,” says Jill Guerra, research and special projects co-ordinator for Canada Organic Trade Association (COTA). “We need more producers […] Read more
Family farms: Recognition + Appreciation > Return on Assets
AME Management: Keep track of good old-fashioned sweat equity
Reading Time: 3 minutes Income is important in a multi-generational farm business, but sometimes the key that actually unlocks a farm’s prosperity has more to do with long-term clarity and its members’ sense of opportunity. Therefore, if you are the second generation (SG), you must ask yourself: “Do I have a career path to ownership? Or am I just […] Read more
Leader effectiveness meets the leader
Good leadership points you in the direction of building a successful business
Reading Time: 3 minutes I want to share what I’m noticing in small business these days in terms of leadership, and what I say to those who ask about leader effectiveness. First, I also want to say that I do not share client stories even with the names redacted. Agriculture is just too small, and my work with leaders […] Read more
Service please
Are you keeping up with the level of business service your neighbours are getting from their accountants and advisors?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Country Guide compares notes with two insiders in Canada’s booming farm advisory sector. As they tell us, there’s a lot to keep up with. There are two reasons why Canadian farmers are now using more business services than they did five or 10 years ago — and neither of them is going away any time […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
