Reading Time: 8 minutes During their pre-school years, if they weren’t trying to help with chores, Jody Berglund and her brother Jarid were busy playing farm together. “I don’t ever recall playing with Barbie dolls as a little girl,” says Jody. “Jarid and I would constantly play farm; we had a wooden barn, we built corrals out of Jenga […] Read more
Brother-sister team credit teamwork on their Sask. farm
As long as Mom and Dad are actively farming, it can be simple. But what about later? Here’s how Saskatchewan’s Jarid and Jody Berglund are working toward their shared vision
Do siblings fight? Is grass green?
But if the problem runs deeper than occasional disagreements over what crop to plant or what size tractor to buy, the resolution has to involve listening to each other, especially when you really don’t want to
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s common for siblings to not get along. Research shows that in about half of families, a brother or sister does not get along with one or more of his or her siblings. On the farm, if they do decide to work together — and many don’t — it can, at best, be an uncomfortable […] Read more
The 10th generation farm
In central Nova Scotia, Cornwallis Farms has been in the same family for nine generations. So how are they planning for David’s arrival, and the start of a whole new chapter?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Thinking back to 2011, David Newcombe told his family that they’d missed a milestone on their farm — and a chance to throw a big party. But another chance will come. “In 2061 we’ll have a 300-year anniversary,” says Newcombe, now 28. That’s a lot of confidence, yet on this farm, you might say they’ve […] Read more
Family through succession: Putting the Hunter plan into operation
"The best thing you can do to protect your legacy is to be a part of planning what it will be.”
Reading Time: 7 minutes We wrap up the Hunter family succession story with this final article in our five-part series. It has been a remarkable venture for our team to share with Country Guide readers the transition-planning journey undertaken by this family. The process took just over one year, from the start to the finish of the plan, and […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Those predictions for mid-size farms
The question is no longer, can the mid-size farm survive? Instead, on the brink of the 2020s, it might be better to ask, does any other farm size have such a chance?
Reading Time: 2 minutes You’ll find remarkably few statistics in associate editor Lorraine Stevenson’s article on Canada’s mid-size farms in our January 2020 issue of Country Guide. Nor will you find that we’ve sought out every expert or every farmer with an opinion on the future of the mid-size farm. We wanted to keep the story as clear as […] Read more
How healthy are mid-sized farms?
A decade ago, mid-size farms were on the endangered list. Today, most are thriving while they ponder what comes next
Reading Time: 11 minutes From coffee shop to conference hall and from boardroom to classroom, it’s the question we keep asking — what’s the future of the mid-size farm? Even the 98 per cent of Canadians who haven’t been on a farm in a generation or two talk about it from time to time. It seems there’s a solid […] Read more
Family through succession: Moving succession to a financial discussion
As we look into concrete financial options, a sense of excitement replaces the family’s initial worries
Reading Time: 7 minutes Many of you have been following our journey with the Hunter family. To recap, the Hunters are a fourth-generation farm family with a mixed crop and dairy farm in southwestern Ontario. Mary’s husband Jack passed away two years ago. She is 80 now and continues to live on the farm. Her only child, Bruce, works […] Read more
Family Through Succession: Aligning the Hunter family vision
"In the end, we all want the same thing,” Bruce says. “I just don’t see how we can make everyone happy.”
Reading Time: 7 minutes Last month, our first article introduced the Hunter family and their journey through farm succession. The Hunters aren’t a real family; you won’t find them in a phone book. But they are real in that they’re based on our real-life experience consulting with farm families. You’ll find families like the Hunters across the country. Through […] Read more
Getting inside a retiring farmer’s head
Knowing the questions that your older neighbours are asking themselves as they start winding down their farms could give you the inside track
Reading Time: 9 minutes Mom and Dad just had coffee with their neighbour, talking about how it’s time to start preparing for retirement. Not just thinking about it, but actually doing it. They’re only a fenceline apart, but they’re in very different situations, though, which for farmers in the area who want to expand could make all the difference. […] Read more
Trailblazing (Part 3): Family leadership — all together now!
A good leader knows how to deal with feelings honestly without harming other family members
Reading Time: 3 minutes Of our 96 living decedents on my father’s side, most show up for our annual family Christmas party. It is a fun affair with games, crafts, sharing, potluck dinner and a dance. Our history covers the walls of the hall in documents and photographs. It’s our “not to be missed” event of the year. For […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
