Reading Time: 6 minutes When parents ask Rickey Yada if their sons and daughters will find jobs after college or university graduation, his answer is always yes — as long as they’re studying agriculture. As dean of the faculty of land and food systems at the University of British Columbia, Yada is constantly amazed at how quickly undergraduate and […] Read more
Professional farming
You see it at post-secondary schools all across the country. Agriculture has a new swagger
Moving towards a career with purpose
Discovering an interest in range management has broadened Jourdyn Sammons' educational opportunities
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – When Jourdyn Sammons joined the University of Saskatchewan’s Range Team in her third year of undergraduate studies, it led to an exciting field of study that’s positively shaped her educational experience. “We talk about varying topics like ecology and grazing practices and multiple-use relationships, like how people can utilize rangeland for its facilities,” says Sammons, who grew up on a cow-calf and grain farm […] Read more
Social (un)distancing
Canada’s young farm grads have learned how to capture the benefits of social networking despite living in a kind of isolation the rest of Canada is experiencing for the first time
Reading Time: 7 minutes When Blair Cummins left the farm where he grew up to go to the University of Saskatchewan and get his bachelor of science in agriculture in the 1970s, he could count on one hand the number of people he knew who were pursuing higher education. “Out of my generation, I only know two others that […] Read more
New livestock transport rules include grace period for all sectors
Reading Time: 2 minutes Enforcement of new federal rules for livestock transport, due to take effect Feb. 20, will focus on handler education and awareness for the first two years — and across all affected livestock species, not just cattle. The now-amended Humane Transportation of Animals regulations are meant to focus on the time frames during which animals are […] Read more
Learning styles
Everyone learns their own way. So what’s best for you and your team?
Reading Time: 5 minutes We’re told there has never been a time in all of human history when things have changed at such a rapid pace. And this is especially true for agriculture. Nor are farmers just letting it happen. Instead, they’re embracing lifelong learning to prepare and to adapt, whether it’s learning new software programs, farm business management […] Read more
Job starts
Here’s how one corporation is responding to the same challenge farmers face — creating great team members out of today’s college and university grads
Reading Time: 6 minutes Maybe their parents are starting to understand that a key trend for Canada’s young people — whether they’re on the farm or off — is to look to social media to find the people and the opinions that will shape them and their careers. Still, the parents are worried, sometimes with good reason. After making […] Read more
Selling sales
When schools look down on sales, marketing and personal skills, you the farmer lose as much as the students
Reading Time: 5 minutes Ask most recruiters or human resource professionals working in ag today and they will tell you there is a growing gap between the skills needed to perform key roles in agribusiness and the skills that high school, college or university students can bring to the job. Lori Litherland, founder of agricultural recruiter Litherland and Company, […] Read more
Leader development explained
Reading Time: 3 minutes In my last article I reported that leadership has been shown to account for 37.6 per cent of the variability in business performance. I commented that small business leaders haven’t tapped this personal competitive advantage to achieve more with the resources they already have. But as we know, it is one thing to champion the […] Read more
Is the class half full or half empty?
Just under half of Canada’s farmers are committed to lifelong learning. Here’s how it makes a difference
Reading Time: 5 minutes “When the human mind is stretched, it never returns to its original size — similar to most new underpants.” That’s a quote from the International Farm Management Congress in Scotland last year, and it’s one that Farm Management Canada (FMC) executive director Heather Watson uses to stress the enduring impact of continuous lifelong learning. “The […] Read more
A farmer’s appetite for learning
Continuous improvement: The next generation of farmers is ready to lead
Reading Time: 3 minutes Today’s farmers are confident. They are finding their voices and they are finally becoming viewed as the powerhouses they are. Farmers are hungry to learn and they are also hungry to educate others. They are educating politicians, society and industry on the strength of their operations and on the economic contributions they make. Today’s farmers […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
