Reading Time: 7 minutes Go to any school graduation and you can expect to hear the graduates being told to follow their dreams and find their passion, and that if they find a job they love, they’ll never have to work a day in their lives. It’s a popular message. A recent survey at Columbia Business School found 90 […] Read more
Why do you farm?
Whether it's passion or purpose, your answer is growing more important than anyone thought
U.S. states declare emergencies to help farmers in propane shortage
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Regional shortages of propane, which is used for heating homes and barns and by farmers to dry their crops, have led to emergency declarations covering nine U.S. Midwest states amid late harvests of soggy grains. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin declared state emergencies beginning in late October, and continued last Friday to […] Read more
Mandatory Saskatchewan farm trucker training planned
Reading Time: 2 minutes The training exemption offered in Saskatchewan for semi truck drivers in agriculture operations is now set to be phased out within two years, the province said Wednesday. The provincial government in late 2018 announced it will require a minimum of 121.5 hours of training before a driver can obtain a Class 1 commercial driver’s licence, […] Read more
Brazil ag minister eyes indigenous land for commercial farming
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brasilia | Reuters — Brazil should open indigenous land to commercial farming, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said on Friday, while also seeking to soften many of President Jair Bolsonaro’s controversial stances on native people and the environment. Farmers form a key base of support for right-wing firebrand Bolsonaro who since taking office Jan. 1 […] Read more
Swiss voters reject more aid for farmers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Zurich | Reuters — Swiss voters decisively rejected more help for farmers in two referendums on Sunday, heeding the government’s warnings that the measures would send food prices rocketing and hurt the economy, projections for broadcaster SRF showed. Opinion polls had shown early widespread support for more farm aid was fading as the vote neared […] Read more
Algeria to open farming concessions to foreigners
Reading Time: 2 minutes Algiers | Reuters — Algeria plans to offer foreign investors concessions for farm land for the first time, according to an official document, as the oil producer seeks to boost food output and reduce reliance on imports. Under the plan, which is expected to be discussed by the cabinet this week before being submitted to […] Read more
Talking up the job. Creating common ground between the farmer and consumer
What’s wrong with letting consumers know just how professional you have to be to grow their food in Canada today?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Every farmer has one. For Manitoba’s Rolf Penner, his aha moment came a few years back, when he suddenly realized just how hard it is for a farmer to talk to non-farmers about his business. Penner and a farming friend were on a weekend getaway with their spouses. Neither wife had a farming background. As […] Read more
Editor’s Desk: Are they right this time?
Reading Time: 2 minutes You’ll find no shortage of things to disagree with in our July/August issue of Country Guide. If you don’t, it means we haven’t worked hard enough. My sense is that the future of farming is going to turn out to be just the other side of incredible. Probably, it’s your sense of the future too. If […] Read more
Editor’s Desk: Brothers versus sisters
Reading Time: 2 minutes History will judge today’s farm families based at least in part on how they treat their brothers and sisters. At this point, it’s far from clear that history’s judgment will be kind. If you have sons and daughters in your family, they know this and they are thinking it (actually, they are thinking a lot […] Read more
Editor’s Desk: Get your mind around it
Reading Time: 2 minutes Of all the sciences, which is the most important for your farm? Is it biology, or soil science, or chemistry, or electronics? My vote is for none of those. My vote is for psychology. I hope that surprises you, because it sure surprised me. I had just finished talking to young wannabe farmers at Ridgetown […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
