Reading Time: 4 minutes Geena Luckett confesses she often feels she has imposter syndrome. At the age of 11 she transitioned from city girl to farm girl when her dad became a fruit and vegetable producer to supply his specialty grocery stores. Today, she is the co-owner and general manager of Luckett Vineyards in Wallbrook, N.S. Despite taking a […] Read more
An experience to phone home about
Country Guide sat down with several 2024 Outstanding Young Farmers to learn about their experiences and plans for the future. In this first instalment, we speak with the Atlantic regional winner, Geena Luckett
Producers pivot in the face of changing climate
No one ever said farming was easy. Now, challenges posed by weather extremes have some producers looking at their enterprises a little differently
Reading Time: 9 minutes A recent study by Farmers for Climate Change revealed that climate is a top worry for producers. Respondents listed reduced profits and yields due to extreme weather events as key concerns. Many producers expressed interest in adopting new practices to develop greater resiliency. Seventy-six percent of producers said extreme weather had an impact on their […] Read more
People-first winery plays the long game
This Nova Scotian winery proves that focusing on the right things at the right time leads to success
Reading Time: 6 minutes The Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, an hour north of Halifax, seems an unlikely place to find a thriving winery making world-class wines from locally grown grapes. But Benjamin Bridge, which began as a passion project for the founders 25 years ago, has grown into a successful and innovative winery. Keltie MacNeill is the director […] Read more
Summer Series: Business connections
[Change Management] Planning a new venture? Keep close to other innovative and entrepreneurial minds
Reading Time: 5 minutes Of course farmers are proudly independent, and of course there are huge advantages in fixing your own problems and setting your own direction. But if diversification might be on your agenda, or if you’re dreaming of launching an innovative new business, there can be big costs too. Today, there’s even more proof that mixing with […] Read more
FCC offers new credit line against ‘current economic environment’
Ag lender to waive loan processing fees
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farm Credit Canada’s recent outreach to specific agrifood sectors hit by unusual environmental conditions has now extended to those hit by the broader “economic environment.” The federal ag lender on Tuesday said it will offer an unsecured credit line of up to $500,000 with loan processing fees waived, “to help producers, agribusinesses and agri-food operations […] Read more
Peru farm protests grip country, turn deadly
'There are no harvests, there is nothing'
Reading Time: 2 minutes Lima | Reuters — Protests by farm workers demanding better wages in Peru raged on for a fourth day Thursday, spreading north into key agricultural areas of the Andean nation, derailing harvests of some crops, snarling transport of produce and leaving at least one dead. Peruvian interim President Francisco Sagasti called the death of a […] Read more
Charred U.S. west’s ‘wet ashtray’ wine grapes left to birds
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Heavy ground smoke clouded Hanson Vineyards in Oregon’s picturesque Willamette Valley for more than a week following a Labour Day windstorm that kicked up wildfires across the western United States. Jason Hanson expects his crews may only harvest five tons of grapes, including his Chardonnay and Gamay varieties, down from the 25 to […] Read more
Michele Manelli — game changer in the world of wine
Here’s what happens when a young Italian abandons a flourishing financial career to “go farming”
Reading Time: 7 minutes I first met Michele Manelli two decades ago at Salcheto, the five-hectare vineyard he had recently bought. Nestled into a Tuscan hillside, at the end of a dirt road, it was billed as one of the finest parcels of land in the Montepulciano area, 250 kilometres northeast of Rome’s airport. The Salcheto story and his […] Read more
A different school
For Vance Lester and Sue Echlin, getting a non-agricultural education proved a big help when they returned to the farm
Reading Time: 6 minutes Graduate degrees in ecology and international relations don’t seem the kind of education that would be likely to help on a Canadian farm. But that’s where we might be wrong. For Sue Echlin and Vance Lester, that kind of schooling has been instrumental in their launching a fruit-growing and winery business, and in keeping it […] Read more
8 steps to go
Change Makers: Trail-blazers? mavericks? gamblers? Success for Chris and Betty Jentsch is all about winning at change
Reading Time: 10 minutes Harvest was wrapping up when I arrived in wine country. Up and down the valley, grape growers were breathing almost audible sighs of relief as final bins were hauled from the vineyard to crush. Seemingly overnight, the valley had shifted from the vibrant oranges, golds and deep purples of fall to the browns and greys […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
