Reading Time: 2 minutes Toronto | Reuters — Ontario’s York Regional Police have charged seven people with trafficking and exploiting 64 Mexican migrants, saying the accused were part of an international labour trafficking ring operating in the Toronto region. Police in Ontario said on Friday they had obtained information in November that migrant men and women were being exploited […] Read more
Ontario police charge seven with trafficking, exploiting migrants
Workers provided for farms and other sites, police say
Is it better to acquire a nearby farm, or merge?
Because so many farms are incorporated today, the next time you expand you may actually need to be open to a merger. But, as BDO’s Kyle Lopez tells us below, it’s likely to be a merger with a very clear, very circumscribed role
Reading Time: 6 minutes Everyone knows what “acquisition” means. A neighbour’s farm comes up for sale, you pay the price, you own it. It’s yours. But what about “mergers.” In most business sectors, the two terms — “mergers and acquisitions”— always go hand in hand. Are mergers even happening in farming? The answer from Kyle Lopez, senior BDO tax […] Read more
Editor’s Note: If you were steering the ship
Reading Time: 2 minutes Country Guide is taking a hard look at where we’re heading and how we’re getting there. Are we getting the job done for you? Is it the right job? How can we make a bigger difference? It’s a healthy thing. Here at Country Guide we’ve launched a kind of performance review over the past several […] Read more
Farm managers take to the field
Huge chunks of American farmland are getting farmed by professional, accredited managers who work for families who don’t want to farm anymore, but also don’t want to sell
Reading Time: 6 minutes Professional farm management is serious business south of the border. Now, based on today’s trendlines, most insiders are predicting it’s only going to grow and spread. Will it grow in Canada too? Country Guide will look into that question in our next issue, but it’s worth pointing out that the share of farmland that’s rented […] Read more
Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential
Guide Books Review: Creating a 'culture of development' is essential
Reading Time: 3 minutes Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potentialBy Dr. Carol S. Dweck Failure can be difficult to handle, especially if you’ve always been told that you are smart. Failure can also be problematic if you feel that everything you do will always be deeply scrutinized and evaluated. It’s all on you. Worse, you […] Read more
Searching for farm improvement? Try online learning
The internet adds more mid-career education choices for your business
Reading Time: 5 minutes One drawback to living on a farm is that unless the farm is within easy driving distance of a major centre — and most aren’t — it can be tough to access post-secondary education and farm at the same time. Over the last few decades, however, the internet has changed everything by bringing educational programs […] Read more
GM’s truck production cut signals a turn in U.S. auto sales
Company to idle Indiana plant for two weeks
Reading Time: 3 minutes Detroit | Reuters — New vehicle sales in the United States are expected to increase in February, but the decision by General Motors to cut production of large pickup trucks at a U.S. plant points to new challenges for Detroit’s automakers. The major Detroit pickup truck brands are sitting on growing inventories of unsold vehicles, […] Read more
Protecting the farm from divorce
Few words cause more anxiety on today’s farms, especially if a non-farmer is joining the family
Reading Time: 7 minutes Relationships are a lot of work. They always are. Adding a farm or ranch to the mix just makes it that much harder. And if the farm is a multi-generation operation, the hill gets that much higher again. So, how do couples and extended families protect the family farm in case a relationship dissolves? Can […] Read more
Editor’s Note: It’s time to ask the question
Reading Time: 2 minutes Family businesses are different. A non-family business’s goal is to make money. A family business’s goal is both to build legacy and create opportunity. And it’s more than that too Most likely, we’ve all heard it. Almost as many of us have said it, and at least as many actually do believe it. It can […] Read more
Hanson Acres: Nothing to worry about, not on a fine day like this
Reading Time: 4 minutes Jeff walked over from the shop to say goodbye to his wife, Elaine, as she was getting into her SUV on Sunday afternoon. “Have a good meeting,” he said. “I’ll be home late on Tuesday,” she reminded him. “The kids are skating on the dugout. I left stew in the crock pot for you and […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
