Reading Time: 3 minutes In the white and grey of a Saskatchewan winter, Kristen Raney was thinking about rich chocolate browns, peaches and soft pink tones. As owner and operator of Shifting Blooms Flower Farm, the flower farmer, blogger and author uses the winter months to prepare for a successful growing season. In December, Raney was looking into wedding […] Read more
The butterfly effect of floral planning
Summer Series: Decisions made months before summer arrives affect the seasonal success of this floral business
Sask. creamery turns ice cream dream into reality
Sometimes your childhood dream can come true — and turn a delicious profit
Reading Time: 8 minutes It all started with a scoop of blueberry cheesecake ice cream from a creamery in Sicamous, B.C., more than ten years ago. About 13 years old, John Pruim was on a family road trip back to the province where he had spent his early years when the taste of farm fresh ice cream stirred something […] Read more
Summer Series: How to get disruptive
[Best Advice] On the Charbonneau farm, the business strategy seemed clear. Go vertical. But how?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Here’s how one Quebec dairy farm decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and make their farm a vertical integration success despite the constraints of the industry.– April Stewart, CG Associate Editor Too often it seems we never hear the words “disruptor” and “Canadian agriculture” used in the same sentence. When we’re thinking […] Read more
New rule on farm transfer tax treatment put off to 2022
Farm groups protest delay
Reading Time: 3 minutes Rule changes passed in a federal bill to standardize tax treatment for sales of family-owned farms and small businesses will be delayed to the start of 2022, to the dismay of several farm groups. Bill C-208, a private member’s bill spearheaded by western Manitoba Conservative MP Larry Maguire with amendments to the federal Income Tax […] Read more
Canada’s new export minister to push beyond U.S. market
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada has created a new federal cabinet position to help exporters look beyond the U.S. and there will be resources for small businesses that want to take advantage of new trade deals, the new minister for export promotion said on Tuesday. Mary Ng, who vaulted to cabinet-level last week to take […] Read more
Australian banks face rural lending reckoning
Agriculture borrowers say banks need a shorter leash and call for a compulsory farm debt mediation system
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters – Australian potato farmer Tom Fox says he had never missed a bank payment in two decades before a delay sending a shipment to Indonesia during a trade dispute between the countries prompted his lender to force him into receivership in 2013. “I got a letter from the bank lawyers saying I had 12 […] Read more
Greig: Federal tax backtracks aside, much of impact still unknown
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Canadian Association of Farm Advisors’ annual tax update showcased confusion and frustration at the federal government’s shifting plan to change how small business is taxed. “I was very, very offended by all of this,” said Kurt Oelschlagel, of BDO Canada, who was part of a panel on the government changes at the CAFA event, […] Read more
Feds pledge lower small business tax rate
Reading Time: 3 minutes UPDATED, Oct. 16 — The federal government says it will cut the small business tax rate to nine per cent from 10.5, a move seen as an attempt to counter a growing backlash against its July tax reform announcement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau appeared side-by-side in Toronto’s far suburbs to […] Read more
4 ways to structure farm diversification
Before rolling a new enterprise into the main farm, stop, think and talk about how this is going to fit into your operation long term
Reading Time: 8 minutes Maybe it’s something you just want to do. It might be manufacturing a new farm widget or selling birdseed, or producing heritage pork, or grazing sheep. Or maybe your son or daughter has graduated from agricultural college and they want to come home after a few years working off farm. You know there’s risk with […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
