Blog
July 19, 2020
It’s that time of year, haying season is in full swing with the second cut underway across most of Ontario and Quebec. If you are in the parts of eastern Canada that are in a drought (which is basically 80% of the entire region east of Manitoba), you’ve probably been eyeing up your hay stockpiles. […]
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It’s been a while. We had lambs, tax season got extended and now we’re onto first cut hay. It’s June and while it might be hard to believe, the first six months of 2020 are almost over. I know, it feels like just yesterday it was Christmas 2015… somehow 5 years have gone by since […]
June 16, 2020
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April 12, 2020
By now we know that the world as we know it has changed completely for the time being. For all intents and purposes, “normal” life has been cancelled for 2020. Even if social distancing, non-essential closures and travel restrictions are lifted by this summer, there will not be a rewind to business as usual. The […]
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I haven’t abandoned The Farming Frontier. Like all of you, life changed very quickly after my last blog. It keeps changing daily. I work from home for the time being. In light of the global pandemic of COVID-19 and the numerous states of emergencies across the country, I wanted to try and put together my […]
March 26, 2020
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March 5, 2020
When marketing sheep in Canada, farmers have three major routes; live auction, contract with an abattoir or direct marketing to consumers. The most common route is through a public live auction. The sheep are sold by the pound for what they weigh when they arrive at the sales barn. Sheep prices are seasonal and cyclical. […]
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Farming has lots of sayings about “go big or get out.” Growth in agriculture is usually measured in more acres, more livestock and frequently bigger debt. Before growth, you should worry about profitability and management. The benefits of economies of scale are much smaller than many farmers realize. There is a sweet spot for farm […]
February 28, 2020
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February 21, 2020
Farmers pride themselves on the farm code of honour. There have been a lot of business deals in agriculture that function on a handshake or a verbal promise. And while a verbal agreement can be considered binding, paper documents are better protection. If it isn’t on paper, you have nothing. I’m going to over three […]
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There are two big topics that you will only really find on a farm tax return. Financial losses and inventory are treated differently for farm businesses than for other businesses. Farms have a couple of unique accounting and tax guidelines. Today I will cover the differences between restricted and unrestricted losses as well as mandatory […]
February 15, 2020
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February 8, 2020
Make your farm profitable, pay yourself and you can quit your off-farm job.
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Its an unfortunate truth but I have yet to meet a farmer that did not at one time or another have a reliable source of off-farm income. Since this is an important part of the process of saving up for your farm and during the start-up phase of your farm, I have a couple of […]
February 5, 2020
