Reading Time: 9 minutes It’s hard to make a plan that will stick. We all know it. The pressure of things you need to do today can overshadow the importance of getting ready for the things you might want to be doing five years from now. Besides, you have a good four years left. Surely there will be a […] Read more
It’s about winning
The 2020s are best the argument yet for farm business planning. CG sits down with economist Michael von Massow to explore why
On board with insight
With its new advisory board, the Leguee family is tapping into the smarts of a group of incredibly talented, experienced business people. Their farm needs it, Jake says. “The decisions we’re making these days are big.”
Reading Time: 11 minutes When a farm or a farmer’s name comes up, you’ll sometimes hear other farmers say, “That one’s progressive.” But what does that really mean? Of course it means they are interested in new ideas, new research and new opportunities. But that is true of all farms, so it has to be more than just that. […] Read more
Editor’s Note: More than a crystal ball
Reading Time: 2 minutes In all of Canada’s history, will this be the most important winter ever for scoping out what you’ll need your farm to look like in five and in 20 years? I’m always saying that the thing consumers don’t know about farming is that it’s a life of decision- making. When you factor in the value […] Read more
Editor’s Note: A test to restore faith in the farm
Reading Time: 2 minutes Two questions keep many farm families awake at night. Can your next generation be reasonably expected to preserve and grow the farm’s net value? Could you do it, facing what they face? As I wrote some four years ago in this space, “Fortunately, science can help.” Every issue of Country Guide deals with this issue. […] Read more
Everywhere he looks: How does this Alberta farmer find so much opportunity?
“There are opportunities everywhere,” says Alberta farmer Glenn Logan. “You just have to pick and choose what might work for you.”
Reading Time: 13 minutes Glenn Logan has two projects on the go that are taking a pile of his energy at a time in his life when many farmers are happy with what they have already accomplished. And once again, his projects are raising eyebrows. Partly, that’s because the Alberta farmer has decided to take 920 acres out of […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Making up your mind in 2022
It’s what people who aren’t business leaders rarely understand. Leadership means knowing how to make big decisions when you don’t have full information, like this year
Reading Time: 2 minutes I have been asking myself this question all spring. I’m sure you have been too. Five years from now, when we look back at 2022, who are we going to say made the best decisions? Who pulled the right levers? What choices turned out to be the right decisions? Which turned out to be not […] Read more
Does your farm plan position you for a summer payoff?
In today’s agriculture, summer is becoming the essential business season of the year. Now, with these five strategies, you can get even more out of it
Reading Time: 9 minutes At Hebert Grain Ventures in Saskatchewan, they actually have a word for it. They call it the “harvest hangover.” It’s those three weeks after the last of the crop has come out of the field when, somehow, nothing much seems ever to get accomplished. “Once the fall season hits, things go out the window,” says […] Read more
Better neighbours
In an era of bigger, busier operations, are farmers still paragons of neighbourliness?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Neighbourliness is stitched into the fabric of rural Canada. It always has been. In fact, as Dr. Catharine Wilson, professor of history at the University of Guelph might put it, “reciprocal labour” is what paved the way for our farming success. “I don’t think we can overstate how important neighbours were,” says Wilson. It isn’t […] Read more
Building a knowledge base for your farm team
For today’s farmers, the top question to ask your farm business advisor may be, “Who else are we bringing in on my job?”
Reading Time: 6 minutes Independence has always had its limits. Farmers have always enlisted off-farm experts to help solve tough production issues, and they’ve always kept their ears open when they’ve met with their bookkeepers or bank managers. But times have sped up. Today’s farms, whether small, medium or large, are complex operations that require a team to help […] Read more
Five moves to make in 2022
With so much opportunity, so much risk, so much change and so much uncertainty, can this be a historic year for your farm?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Despite drought, floods and a continuing global pandemic, Canadian farm businesses came out of 2021 with a notable increase in cash receipts. While economists expect farm revenues to continue to grow, it’s a figure that will only tell half of the story for financial success. Revenue growth does not equate to profitability. The other half […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
