Unlike formal leasing arrangements with non-family entities, family farmland rental agreements may lack the clarity and specificity needed to prevent future conflicts.

Summer Series: The challenge with family rental agreements

[Land] Family rental agreements are getting big attention in 2024. Just don’t rely on them as the foundation of your succession plan. They’re one piece in the puzzle

Reading Time: 5 minutes Family ties and farming operations have long been intertwined. Indeed, family forms the backbone of many of our agricultural traditions, and today, it is often the reason why navigating farm succession is so complex. In fact, we can say even more. In an important way, family is making succession planning even more difficult in 2024 […] Read more

‘Farms that are leveraging the knowledge and skill sets of the next generation ... are beginning to set themselves apart.’ – Andrew Leach.

Summer Series: The family landscape

[Land] The Impact: Rising farmland values mean new farm opportunities, and frequent challenges for family harmony

Reading Time: 5 minutes Once considered among the most traditional, unchanging ways of life, farming today is being transformed. Farmland values are changing the nature of farming and farm business management, and introducing new opportunities and risks. Plus, they are creating challenges for farm families. Land prices are raising new questions about how to direct assets to different siblings, […] Read more


“Any opportunity we’ve had to expand our land base, we’ve done so.” – Jordan Lindgren.

Summer Series: “Not just with acres”

[Land] “We had to find another way to diversify,” says Jennifer Lindgren

Reading Time: 10 minutes The question we’ve come to ask is why Jordan and Jennifer Lindgren made the strange choice to turn being a grain farmer into such a public life. Unlike most farmers, the Lindgrens’ marketing campaign puts their farm and their family right in the public spotlight. Can it possibly pay? And what’s it like behind the […] Read more

Shane Conway, researcher in the Rural Studies Centre at the University of Galway.

Summer Series: You forgot who?

[Change Management] When Mom and Dad feel they’re being pushed out of the way, all sorts of bad things happen

Reading Time: 5 minutes The Irish government thought it was such a great idea. The year was 2007, and in Ireland, as in the Canada of that time, few farms were setting up formal transition or succession plans. The Irish government had also begun asking itself what would happen when age or ill health finally pushes all those farmers […] Read more


Maintaining a rolling cash-flow forecast can give you piece of mind over your cash position.

Summer Series: Assessing your farm’s financial horsepower

[Change Management] It’s going to pay to keep your financials in order in 2024, and beyond

Reading Time: 3 minutes Every year, we go through harvest with our grain. Then there comes a harvest season of a different sort — the bookkeeping and the accounting that needs to get caught up to “close the books.” Unfortunately, some accountants can get backed up like grain terminals in winter. Farm files trickle in until eventually the accountant’s […] Read more

“No one is shy about bringing ideas to the table,” says Jolene. “For our family, that is a big positive.”

Summer Series: Their new family plan

[Change Management] With their direct-to-consumer venture, this farm is welcoming the next generation back home

Reading Time: 6 minutes For Nora Paulovich, as for farmers all across Canada, farm success means two big things. It means nurturing the land, and nurturing the family too, building and preserving the farm for future generations. And as on other farms, Paulovich and husband Bob Noble’s adult children see their parents’ dedication and it inspires them. They want […] Read more


A legal trust is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Learn about the pros and cons and how to know if a trust is the right solution for you.

Summer Series: What is a legal trust?

[Leadership] A trust may be the right solution for your toughest succession and legacy issues, but proceed with care

Reading Time: 4 minutes There’s only so much time in a busy farm owner’s day. Here’s how can you help your farm manager develop their leadership skills, so you can focus on the big stuff.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor The easiest way to think of a trust is as a legal relationship between parties — a settlor, trustee […] Read more

With the higher taxes leading to increased costs for transferring a farm to the next generation, “this puts the family farm at risk,” says the Executive Director of Grain Growers of Canada.  Photo: MJ_Prototype/iStock/Getty Images

Family farms at risk from higher capital gains rates: GGC

Reading Time: 3 minutes [UPDATED: June 11, 2024] Glacier FarmMedia – Looming changes to Canada’s capital gains inclusion rates will increase average taxes by 30 per cent on the country’s family-run grain farms, putting their futures at risk, according to research conducted by the Grain Growers of Canada (GGC). “Our research shows that an average grain farm in Canada, […] Read more


“The younger generation needs to know whether there is ever going to be an opportunity. But they also have to understand that their parents are not required to give them a job or obligated to let them take over the farm, and there may be reasons why it won’t be possible.” – Kelly Dobson.

Summer Series: Do the kids really want it?

[Leadership] If yes, the kids and their parents both have to be clear on how they can prove it

Reading Time: 4 minutes If the kids are expressing an interest in the farm or their answer to the question “Do you really want this opportunity?” is yes, then both kids and parents must be clear on how they can prove it. Follow this expert advice to get you started.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor An intergenerational farm transition […] Read more

"It doesn’t matter the size of the operation, learning and advancing your leadership skills can pay dividends for anyone."

Summer Series: Is my kid a leader?

[Leadership] What does leadership potential look like?

Reading Time: 6 minutes What does leadership potential look like? Are there certain skills a parent should teach or encourage their kids to develop? And how can parents do that? Read or listen to this article to find out.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor It’s actually two questions. It isn’t just how much leadership potential have my kids got? […] Read more