Reading Time: 6 minutes American psychologist B.F. Skinner once said: A failure is not always a mistake. It may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying. This is a story about a farmer who never stopped trying, even as his finances went so horribly off track that he risked […] Read more
From ‘no’ to ‘yes’
How one farmer and his financial advisor persevered to find a route out of financial disaster
Three Lean books to read in 2021
Guide Books Review: How about a holistic approach to management?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Lean in Agriculture: Create More Value with Less Work on the Farm By Vibeke Fladkjaer Nielsen and Susanne Pejstrup The Lean Dairy Farm: Eliminate Waste, Save Time, Cut Costs By Jana Hocken with Mat Hocken The Lean Farm: How to Minimize Waste, Increase Efficiency, and Maximize Value and Profits with Less Work By Ben Hartman […] Read more
Ford cuts output of F-150s due to semiconductor shortage
U.S. firm among manufacturers caught off guard
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it is cutting shifts at two U.S. plants that build its highly profitable flagship F-150 pickup trucks starting next week due to a global shortage of semiconductor chips, raising fears the problem could be worsening. The No. 2 U.S. automaker said it will run one of […] Read more
Looking for the green
The inventor of Hydrogreen technology has advice for anyone looking to bring a disruptive invention to market. “Go for it,” he says. “It’s a lot of work and many sleepless nights, but there are huge rewards.”
Reading Time: 7 minutes A new indoor hydroponic technology that raises live, green fodder from seed to feed in six days is starting to disrupt the way livestock is fed on farms around the world. Bill Vanderkooi has been testing the Hydrogreen system on his Abbotsford, B.C. farm for the past two years with his 250 head of grass-finished […] Read more
Editor’s Note: A motion that needs support
Reading Time: 2 minutes As farmers across the country churn their way through this winter’s virtual meeting season, here’s a proposal for adding a useful (and profitable) bit of debate. It’s way past time for more farm groups to start investing a slice of their research budgets into exploring the business questions that will be crucial to their members’ […] Read more
Managing more, working less
For Lauren and Ryan Maurer, it’s the challenge of 2021. How do they keep from getting personally overwhelmed as the farm gets bigger and more complex?
Reading Time: 7 minutes It was 27 years ago that Lauren and Ryan Maurer moved to Lauren’s family grain farm near Grenfell, Sask., and started with 800 cultivated acres. In 2010 the couple was named Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers, and now Land and Sky Grains seeds 24,000 owned and rented acres. Another 3,000 acres are committed to pasture and […] Read more
Truckload of northbound produce breaks bad at border
Canadian agents find record-level meth haul at Christmas
Reading Time: < 1 minute A produce truck entering Alberta from Montana on Christmas Day turned out to be carrying way more than just essential goods, according to the Canada Border Services Agency. CBSA on Wednesday said charges have now been laid against a 38-year-old Calgary resident after a semi-truckload of produce was referred for further inspection on Dec. 25, […] Read more
Hanson Acres: So how come Connor is still sitting in the truck?
“You’d better get him home,” Donna said. “Elaine’s looking for him.”
Reading Time: 5 minutes When the phone rang Donna finished sewing to the end of the seam before she picked up. “Hrguagh?” she said, realizing too late that she was still holding three pins in her mouth. “Um… Donna?” her daughter-in-law Elaine asked. “Sorry,” Donna said, removing the pins. “I can call you back?” “No!” Donna said. “I’m glad […] Read more
U.S. oil industry seeks unusual alliance with Farm Belt against electric vehicle agenda
'We weren't born yesterday'
Reading Time: 3 minutes New York | Reuters — The U.S. oil industry is seeking to forge an alliance with the nation’s corn growers and biofuel producers to lobby against the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles, but is so far meeting a cool reception, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions. The effort marks an unusual attempt […] Read more
GM aims to end sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered light trucks, cars by 2035
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — General Motors said on Thursday it was setting a goal to sell all its new cars, SUVS and light pickup trucks with zero tailpipe emissions by 2035, a dramatic shift by the largest U.S. automaker away from gasoline and diesel engines. GM, which also said it plans to become carbon-neutral by […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
