Reading Time: 11 minutes [UPDATED: Mar. 22, 2022] Doyle Wiebe expects to do a lot more golfing this summer than he did eight years ago, and he’s managing to find time for a lot of other activities too, like mentoring and consulting, that he much prefers over driving a tractor for hours at a time. In 2014, by contrast, […] Read more
Joint venturers
Joint ventures rarely get used in today’s farm succession plans. These two producers call that a major missed opportunity
Time for school?
Could an MBA or an advanced business program be worth squeezing into your schedule? Country Guide asked two recent graduates
Reading Time: 6 minutes Andrew Lovell and Andrea McKenna have a lot in common. They’re both farmers on Canada’s East Coast — Lovell in New Brunswick and McKenna on P.E.I. — and they’re both insanely busy. When Country Guide first reached Lovell, for instance, he hopped off his tractor and continued doing chores wearing a hands-free headset to keep […] Read more
Alberta RCMP to start unclogging major border crossing
Blockade 'not a peaceful assembly,' Mounties say
Reading Time: 4 minutes A major supply chain corridor connecting Alberta and the U.S. is expected to be cleared of protestors and reopened to traffic on Tuesday, Alberta RCMP have warned. Protestors in vehicles formed a blockade Saturday on Highway 4 leading to the province’s only 24-hour Canada-U.S. border crossing, at Coutts, Alta., about 100 km southeast of Lethbridge. […] Read more
Young, and (not) feeling stuck
You’ve gone back to the farm. You’re eager to make real decisions. You feel ready for it too, if only Mom and Dad would let you. So how do you convince them?
Reading Time: 8 minutes We begin with a happy story. It was 3 a.m. and 18-year-old Ryan Galbraith was sitting in a seeder in a field in the middle of Western Australia when he realized all he wanted was to be a farmer. “It was one of those moments — you’re just out there enjoying it, you’re tired but […] Read more
Editor’s Note: The best choices in 2022?
Reading Time: 2 minutes We used to say the worst choices get made in the best times. To farmers’ credit, that’s no longer true. But do we know what the best choices this winter will turn out to be? I sometimes think there isn’t a farmer in the country who wouldn’t like to sit in my seat from time […] Read more
Hanson Acres: Make them forget all about that other time you tried it
It can’t happen twice, Jeff said. Elaine wasn’t convinced
Reading Time: 5 minutes Finally, Elaine thought, life is back to “normal.” Well, almost. She realized she was still wearing her face mask as she drove alone in her SUV, halfway between Prairieland Park and her hotel. She pulled the mask off and tossed it onto the passenger seat. She didn’t love wearing masks, but as long as a […] Read more
New ways to buy and sell farmland
These options are putting a lot more power in the hands of sellers. They’re also changing how the real estate industry works
Reading Time: 7 minutes Today, farmers don’t buy land with a handshake over the fence, as Grandpa and Grandma, or even Dad and Mom might have done. Selling methods like sealed tenders and online auctions are becoming ever more prevalent, and the key is finding which one best fits the size, type and circumstance of the farming operation. “There […] Read more
Study finds no data to show change in butter consistency
Not enough data to link to palm supplement use, either
Reading Time: 4 minutes Updated, Jan. 24 — A panel tasked with reviewing complaints of changes in Canadian butter’s consistency has found there’s not enough data out there to support those complaints — nor to support the allegation that palm byproducts in cows’ rations were the cause. The Expert Working Group on Feed Supplementation, set up by Dairy Farmers […] Read more
Thunder Bay shipping season wraps up
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The last vessel of the shipping season will depart the Port of Thunder Bay on Friday. Grain handling volumes were down on the year, but increases in other categories helped limit the overall reduction in movement through the northern Lake Superior port. The 2021 navigation season will come to a close with the […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Big decisions are coming fast in 2022
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farming isn’t a business. Oh no, hold on just a minute! Of course it’s a business. How could Country Guide ever say it isn’t? Ask any farmer what’s on their “must do” list for 2022. Right at the top will be production. It has to be. Farming is all about producing more, producing more efficiently, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
