Reading Time: 10 minutes In 2011, 48 per cent of Canada’s farmers were 55 years old or older. Five years earlier, the number had only been 41 per cent. If you draw a straight line, that means 55 per cent of farmers are now 55 or older. And it also means our median age is approaching 65! Whether that’s […] Read more
Plan before you retire
Whether you’re selling or if you’re transferring farm assets to the next generation, tax-smart retirement takes planning… and time
Last of the first-born tradition
There’s less and less room for entitlement on today’s family farm
Reading Time: 7 minutes If you’re the first-born male, it used to mean you had won the lottery. You got to inherit the biggest share, you got to take over as boss, and you got to sit at the head of the family table. But today that kind of European hierarchy is quickly fading on the family farm. Except… […] Read more
Editor’s Desk: Is this the last generation?
Reading Time: 2 minutes The above title caught my eye as I was thumbing through some 2011 back issues of Country Guide. Hmm, I wondered, have the last five years changed what I think about whether young people can successfully take over enough of our family farms to actually comprise a “generation?” Or will they even want to? In […] Read more
A retirement goal of Freedom 52
What’s the right age for Mom and Dad to step back? It might be a lot younger than we have traditionally thought
Reading Time: 9 minutes It is an early fall afternoon, and while their four young children bounce across this picturesque New Brunswick dairy farm, 35-year-old Joas van Oord and his wife Lisa talk about their dreams. In the barn, that same afternoon, the farm’s 58-year-old patriarch, Maarten van Oord shows off the farm’s new robotic milker, and as he […] Read more
After the farm tragedy…
It takes a combination of legal and financial preparedness on the one hand, and human understanding on the other to keep the farm together
Reading Time: 7 minutes The Connery family thought that it was probably more prepared than most farm families for succession, and in many ways it was. But no one anticipated the sudden death of its two principal farming partners, or that the farm business would transfer to a daughter-in-law. When brothers, Doug and Jeff Connery died within six months […] Read more
Not related, but farm hopeful gets all he needs
Dustin Krahn gets no land, no equipment and no pay — but thanks to farmer Ken Wiebe, he gets opportunity
Reading Time: 9 minutes You might call it a sort of succession plan in reverse. Young farmer Dustin Krahn isn’t related to Ken Wiebe, the established farmer who has found a way to help Dustin get a leg up. Meanwhile, though, Dustin is also helping Wiebe’s 22-year-old son, Zack, learn the ropes and get started in farming too. Are […] Read more
Five big ideas to help take your farm in the right direction
It's time to be a game changer. Choose the right business priorities and make your move
Reading Time: 11 minutes The year is at half-time, and you’re the coach. Most of the crop is in the ground, the spring rush is coming to an end, the team is winded. It’s a time when you can make a difference. You can be in charge; you can draw up new plays, analyze your strategy and motivate your […] Read more
One Ontario family’s joint path to farm succession
“Succession planning here is like hitting a moving target,” says Jim McGregor, but it’s also the family’s greatest opportunity
Reading Time: 8 minutes A mile from the Ottawa River, the McGregor family has lived and farmed, and they have loved and built for five generations, to the point where their produce business has mushroomed to 15 stands, a pick-your-own business and four farmers’ markets. Theirs is a story about embracing change, and about how, in the midst of […] Read more
From farm to seed company
Can the succession process at Simpson Seeds help your farm keep growing through the transition years?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Greg Simpson and his two brothers have already been through succession planning once. Almost 40 years ago, Greg’s father successfully transitioned the family farm to the three brothers. He also helped them set up Simpson Seeds, telling Greg “You know I’ll be here to backstop you, but I want you to have the reins.” Today […] Read more
Quebec ag spending trimmed, tax credits boosted
Reading Time: 3 minutes Quebec’s farming sector can expect a noticeable cut in program spending and a handful of tax credits and tax relief coming out of Thursday’s provincial budget. Finance Minister Carlos Leitao on Thursday announced a cut of about 15 per cent in program spending for the agriculture, food and fisheries ministry through the province’s general fund, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
