Reading Time: 2 minutes It was only a few years ago when, in every group of farmers, someone could be relied on to shake their heads and complain that the upcoming generation of Canada’s young farmers was marked by nothing so much as its sense of entitlement. Too many of us were too fast to see young farmers standing […] Read more
Editor’s Note: The breathtaking nerve of young farmers
Despite the tangle of current farm issues, nothing matters more in this fall’s federal election than how we encourage more young farmers to get find their feet
Editor’s Note: On deck for 2020 – a Country Guide suggestion
It’s an odd thing about agriculture. Or perhaps I should say it’s another odd thing. In an industry where the short and medium term are so frustrating to predict, the long-term is clear
Reading Time: 2 minutes We’re all shaking our heads about the excesses the weather has smothered us under in the past 12 months. And mostly we agree too about the equally unpredictable political excesses that have roiled global trading patterns and devastated commodity prices. Combined, those two are enough to make us overlook the historic predictability of other key […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Get more from the next six months
The further we go with the business focus of Country Guide, the more we believe in the ‘summer business’ concept. In fact, it’s the reason for our April issue
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farmers have always been decision-makers. It’s been true throughout the generations. But there are three reasons why it’s different today. The first is clear. It’s because of the number of zeroes in play. Farm decisions have always been make or break, but today’s dollar sums are beyond the imagining of farmers of only a few […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Decision-making on a whole new level
Reading Time: 2 minutes A year and a half ago, we promised to write much more about farmers who are using team strategies to achieve objectives out of reach on their own. Boy, did I get my eyes opened. Here’s a paragraph I wrote in that first column: “The thing is, at our core, Country Guide believes that farmers […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Here’s a hint. Get better at what you’re good at
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s a favourite quote from Tom Rath, among my favourite business writers. “You cannot be anything you want to be — but you can be a whole lot more of who you already are.” I still think of Rath for his Strengths Finder 2.0, which became Amazon’s global best-seller in 2014 — not bad for […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Is this the last new generation?
Reading Time: 2 minutes In an industry buffeted by such constant change, it’s easy to predict a wave of evolution is heading our way that’s so strong, only the most powerful farms will survive. Except… It’s a question I have asked before. Will the kids coming home from college and university this spring be part of the last generation […] Read more
Editor’s Note: A long, confident, look ahead
Reading Time: 2 minutes On the theory that winter is always the right time for such things, why not spend half an hour this week making a list of the machinery your family had on the farm 25 years ago compared to the inventory you’ve got today. You could even make your list over supper some night when your […] Read more
Editor’s Note: The way I read Country Guide
Today’s farmers are making history. Arguably, agriculture is evolving faster now than ever before, and all of us are aware of what a privilege it is to be along for the ride
Reading Time: 2 minutes With roots the go back before 1900, Country Guide is among the oldest magazines in Canada, and partly because of this, and even more because talking to farmers is what the Guide has always been about, it may not surprise you as much as it surprised me when I got here that we get contacted […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Our greatest risk
The defining events of 2018 may have been the things that didn’t happen, like ripping up NAFTA or pulling the plug on ethanol supports. That’s not how it’s going to be in 2019
Reading Time: 2 minutes Our January 2019 issue of Country Guide, like our issues all through 2018, is full of good news. Has there ever been a time when farmers have felt so capable of withstanding weather and marketplace shocks that would have had them spinning in other decades? And has there ever been a time when farmers have […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Be it resolved…
We’re heading into another meeting season, and here’s a topic that’s actually worth making a resolution out of and standing up to move. Clearly, there won’t be progress if you don’t
Reading Time: 2 minutes Obviously, you don’t have to get very far away from the farm to lose sight of the fact that the real energy that’s driving agriculture isn’t some GMO breakthrough, or some new chemical innovation or even some amazingly brilliant bit of electronic engineering. Nor is it the price of grain, or the value of the […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
