Tom Button

Editor’s Desk: That hard as nails truth

Reading Time: 2 minutes Every neighbourhood has its own stories of farmers who had to be hard as nails to survive, but who turned out to also be fired by a vital spark that could not be extinguished even by the heaviest, most wearying toil. It’s this combination — the toughness and the humanity — that makes them such […] Read more

Tom Button

Editor’s Desk: It wasn’t my best week

Reading Time: 2 minutes I had been invited to speak to some accountants and lawyers who work largely in agricultural practices, and while it was clear we wouldn’t agree on everything, I thought we’d share support for one theme that I’ve been banging away at for as long as I’ve held this position. I showed them a list. I’ll […] Read more


Men shaking hands

Our toughest marketing challenge

Farmers are losing respect. Now is the time to win it back, before the costs get even worse

Reading Time: 4 minutes Rodney Dangerfield built a comic career on his signature line: “I don’t get no respect.” But for the agricultural industry, loss of respect is no laughing matter. The public perception of agriculture is steadily eroding. Last fall, Harris Interactive asked 2,537 Americans to name the most prestigious occupations. As you might guess, doctors topped the […] Read more

Tom Button

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