Reading Time: 2 minutes The word “entitlement” gets tossed around a lot in agriculture. “Oh,” somebody has always said, “the kids act like they’re entitled to the best truck money can buy.” Or, “Oh, he acts like he’s so entitled to a voice in how this farm is run.” In 2023, we’re sensing the entitlement charge is getting bigger […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Who deserves today’s farm?
Major strawberry plant producer changes hands
New owners get funding to buy Lareault business
Reading Time: 2 minutes The Quebec company billed as Canada’s largest producer of strawberry plants has picked up new ownership after nearly 70 years. Production Lareault, based on just over 450 acres at Lavaltrie, Que. — about 40 km northeast of Montreal, in the province’s Lanaudiere region — has been acquired by investors Antoine Casimir and Andrea Borodenko for […] Read more
International farmers may ease Canadian human capital crunch
A global retirement crunch is coming and Canada is ill prepared, report says
Reading Time: 3 minutes As other nations reduce their agricultural footprints in an effort to boost sustainability, their loss could be Canada’s human capital gain, a new report suggests. “The immigration of scientists, data engineers, and entrepreneurs has been recognized as critical to Canada’s growth. A similar approach needs to be adopted to attract farmers,” the authors wrote. The […] Read more
A farm that lasts
Founders’ fees and amortized sales restrictions are just two of the growing list of strategies that farm families are adapting to ensure their farm survives for future generations
Reading Time: 5 minutes Maybe nothing has ever been certain on the farm, but today it feels more true than ever before. There’s so much more to worry about than just weather and weeds. Who could ever imagine the global supply chain would be turned upside down by a virus? Or that you wouldn’t be able to source parts […] Read more
How to become the partner everyone wants to work with
On today’s larger farms, the partners are up close. They’re your relatives. They farm out of the same yard. Shouldn’t they recognize what you bring to the farm? Maybe not, says cross-border farm advisor Andy Junkin
Reading Time: 3 minutes Maybe your partner is your parent, in-law, sibling, cousin or friend. It doesn’t matter. At some point, says advisor Andy Junkin, there is bound to be tension in the relationship. In fact, if you dig into any farm, that kind of tension is something you’re bound to see, which explains why he calls his service […] Read more
A new path to the farm’s future
Today’s farm families think in terms of transition, not succession, and they’re setting new goal posts too
Reading Time: 8 minutes The questions may be the same, but the tone has changed, says Kent Gulash, longtime farm family coach from Saskatoon. When families meet their transition advisors these days, they’re coming from a different place. “That’s because the dynamics around the value of farms have changed,” Gulash says. There’s trepidation now, he explains. Will the farm’s […] Read more
Better at change
Just because change is a constant on the farm doesn’t mean you can’t get much better at it
Reading Time: 8 minutes Farmers understand change: The weather changes, markets change, economics change. Technologies change too and, through it all, farmers keep farming. You always have. You always will. Change is inevitable, but we can learn from how other farmers navigate their own big changes, and we can adapt to the next major shakeups on the farm. “Change […] Read more
The Succession Advantage – Balancing growth and harvest
Reading Time: 3 minutes Following along with our series, The Succession Advantage, we have covered the first two critical stages for family farm transition planning. The Communication Advantage comes from respectful conversation and results in aligned vision and agreed upon goals for the farm’s future. Financial Advantages become more tangible when starting succession planning early and include tax savings, […] Read more
Taking stock before your farm succession
Before jumping into transition planning, gather this information and have a conversation with your spouse
Reading Time: 5 minutes Transition planning requires complicated professional tax and legal planning plus deep communication and strategic decision-making. It’s definitely not a do-it-yourself (DIY) project. However, there are some things you can do yourself ahead of transition planning to make it go more smoothly. They will save you time, money and headaches in the future. Many of us […] Read more
The Succession Advantage – Finding your family’s advantage point
Reading Time: 3 minutes Succession is more than passing the farm to the next generation. It’s about setting the farm up for ongoing success through a continual discovery process, examining every aspect of the farm and its operations, pulling out the very best, and incorporating them into best practices. It’s about having conversations with your family that get to […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
