Reading Time: 14 minutes When Kurt Siemens and his son Harley were planning an expansion of the family’s egg farm, they would scratch out designs on paper, then climb the feed tank in the yard so they could visualize the layout on the ground from a bird’s-eye view. “We would take marker paint and draw the building out on […] Read more
Meet the team
In today’s agriculture, succession means most family farms must grow. For the Siemens family, it also means adopting new ways of doing business. Success is all about building on the existing foundation, and creating a new one
Bright ideas
Can we get better at decision-making?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Agriculture is too modest. There are so many intelligent, innovative and forward-thinking people in Canada’s agriculture industry — people who are hungry for bright ideas that they can play with, evaluate, adapt and adopt. This is an industry that loves bright ideas, which is why Country Guide is introducing this new bi-monthly column called exactly […] Read more
From the inside: Breaking through with the Kolks in Alberta
These days, when it’s so pricey to expand, diversification can look right for even the most dedicated commodity farms. As Alberta’s Leighton Kolk found, though, it takes some serious smarts. And courage
Reading Time: 11 minutes What do you get when you cross one of Canada’s most competitive farm regions and a producer who just can’t say no to a good risk. You get Kolk Farms. It’s no joke, either. Leighton Kolk, a southern Alberta farm and feedlot owner, seems to have a knack for not only finding risk, but embracing […] Read more
Building intangibles on your farm
Reading Time: 2 minutes There can be many reasons why an additional farm business may succeed or fail. Often, it actually has nothing to do with farming. For the Kolks, a series of decisions over the years paved the way for the K3 Seeds acquisition. Professional development: Both Leighton Kolk and son Jordan believe in professional development. Kolk is […] Read more
When is a good time to incorporate your farm?
Incorporating isn’t right for everyone, but it can often help the farm grow and prepare for the future
Reading Time: 4 minutes Should you incorporate your farm? It’s a decision with many moving parts, combining tax planning with growth strategies. And it’s a decision more and more farmers are making. The 2016 census showed about half of all Canadian farms were sole proprietorships, 23 per cent were partnerships and about a quarter were corporations. Successful farms depend […] Read more
Farm psychology: aging and generativity
Guide Psychology: There are four essential acts of generativity
Reading Time: 4 minutes Editor’s Note: Bonnie Whitehead, M.Sc. (psychology) launches her new CG column demonstrating how the rapidly evolving science of psychology can improve your business and personal farm success. She begins with generativity and its exciting opportunity to keep us strong and vibrant as we age. Our motivation to achieve is deeply embedded in our personalities. The […] Read more
Keep the farm or sell?
Mom and Dad want to retire. What’s the smart move? Should you keep the land for the family, or sell and invest?
Reading Time: 4 minutes As farming parents prepare to retire, conflicting viewpoints can arise with their offspring over keeping the land or selling it. What’s the right way to go? Deciding whether to retain versus divesting the family farm may be the biggest decision that any farm family will ever have to undertake. There’s no right or wrong answer, […] Read more
Telus, Rabobank ag arms buy into farm data aggregator
Companies join in on deal for Minneapolis-based Conservis
Reading Time: 2 minutes The agriculture arms of one of Canada’s major telecoms providers and a major Dutch bank and financial services firm are taking a stake in a tech firm in the business of gathering on-farm data into a single window. Telus Agriculture and Rabo AgriFinance, which is headquartered in St. Louis and serves U.S. farm customers, announced […] Read more
The next big step: mid-career mentorship
You’re already smart and dedicated, but is that really enough for today’s challenges?
Reading Time: 6 minutes When Adam Gregory signed up for LeaderShift’s year-long national farm leadership program, he didn’t anticipate waking up at the crack of dawn to do group yoga. “Some people were way out of their comfort zone,” Gregory laughs. “I’m open to trying anything, so it wasn’t a hurdle for me.” There’s more to LeaderShift’s program than […] Read more
Getting involved at the farm level
Farm organizations sustain Canadian agriculture. They’re also where a whole lot of farmers are gaining leadership, management and decision-making skills. Should you join them?
Reading Time: 9 minutes As summer approaches and the pandemic is beginning to ease, it’s time to take stock. What got agriculture through the COVID-19 pandemic? Who kept things from falling off the rails? It turns out farm organizations played an enormous role. You probably know that already. Understandably, these groups invest heavily in making sure their members know […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
