There is no exemption for a family-run business like a farm,” says lawyer Cherolyn Knapp. In other words, if you’re an employer, you need anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.

What the law says about harassment

What is your responsibility for preventing abuse or harassment on your farm?

Reading Time: 4 minutes Whether you’re a manager at a large corporation or you own a farm business that hires a small cohort of staff, you’re obligated under the law to provide a harassment-free workplace, says Cherolyn Knapp, a partner at Guelph-based law firm, Nelson, Watson LLP. Specific statutes vary from province to province, and links to relevant pieces […] Read more

Farmer Types on tablet computer with combine harvester in the background

Build a learning farm

This summer, start your lifelong educational strategy

Reading Time: 9 minutes Farmers always have their hands full, so it’s not always easy to think that signing up for a seminar, conference or training course is a wise investment or a good use of time. The business case, however, is pretty clearly in favour of doing just that. “If you look at it purely from an economist’s […] Read more


Job descriptions: The right HR tool for our farms

“Self-efficacy” is a concept worth learning for farmers who want to manage their way to better farm productivity

Reading Time: 5 minutes “It’s different than self-esteem,” says Sara Mann, of the University of Guelph. “Self-esteem is your overall belief in yourself. Self-efficacy is task specific… it’s the belief that you can actually do your job.” Self-efficacy is an idea whose time is right, says Mann, who has trained over 120 farm owners and supervisors on how to […] Read more

Green jobs eligible for wage subsidy

Green jobs eligible for wage subsidy

Reading Time: 2 minutes A new Career Focus Green Jobs program is offering wage subsidies to help employers with an environmental focus hire new graduates, a federal release says. The program targets small- and medium-sized businesses to help reduce the cost barriers of hiring new graduates by subsidizing their salary by 50 per cent to a maximum of $13,500 […] Read more