Ontario Grain Farmer Magazine is the flagship publication of Grain Farmers of Ontario and a source of information for our province’s grain farmers.

Grain Farmers of Ontario

December 2019

In this issue:

Web Special

Ontario Corn Committee Performance Trials

TRIAL RESULTS ARE AVAILABLE

December 2019 - Just like corn farmers this year, the Ontario Corn Trials had the same struggles of delayed spring planting and a long drawn out harvest. We would like to thank the trial coordinators and their staff…
Protecting the future

USING CONSERVATION EASEMENTS TO PRESERVE FARMLAND

December 2019 - MORE AND MORE farmers in Ontario are choosing to make sure their farmland stays farmland. They’ve been able to do so since 2005, when preserving land for agricultural purposes was added to the Conservation Lands…
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GrainTALK for December 2019

AN UPDATE ON GRAIN FARMERS OF ONTARIO NEWS AND EVENTS

December 2019 - FROM THE CHAIRA Q&A with Grain Farmers of Ontario chair, Markus Haerle. Q. What are some of the lessons you have learned through succession planning? A. I will tell you straight off the bat that succession…
Passing on the farm

DEVELOPING A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

December 2019 - ABOUT THIS ISSUE Grain Farmers of Ontario staff members often hear from our farmer-members that succession planning is one of their most top-of-mind issues. Our 2018 farmer-member survey reiterated that, with many respondents indicating they…
Setting business goals

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION

December 2019 - YOU JUST TOOK over the family farm and want to grow the business. That means you need a business plan. But what do you do? Where do you start? According to financial planning experts, the…
Getting the conversation started

A SUCCESSION STORY: EMERY HUSZKA

December 2019 - ONE OF THE most common hurdles in succession planning is how to start. That was certainly the case for Emery Huszka. “We never had a good, serious conversation with my dad about the future of…
Finding fairness

PROVIDING FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY

December 2019 - MAKING FARM TRANSITION plans fair for everyone involved can be tough, but it is doable and can be rewarding, according to two experts in the field. “It’s no longer 1983 — today, founders live longer,…
Farm succession finances

PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT SECURITY

December 2019 - BALANCING THE FINANCIAL security of the senior partners in a farm transition while leaving the operating farm finances in a healthy situation can be challenging, but necessary. “The technical, or numbers side, of a farm…
Handing over the reins

A SUCCESSION STORY: BRAD AND JOSH BOERSEN

December 2019 - FOR THE BOERSENS, creating a succession plan was part risk management and part career planning. Brad, 55, and his son Josh, 32, started succession talks three years ago when Josh wanted to take on more…
Business side: Finding the right advisor

CONVERSATIONS WITH BUSINESS EXPERTS

December 2019 - (OGF) WHAT MAKES A GOOD FARM SUCCESSION ADVISOR? (D.W.) I feel any trusted professional or advisor can start a conversation about farm succession or transition. Most farm families surround themselves with a good business team…
A dream opportunity

A SUCCESSION STORY: KELSEY BANKS

December 2019 - KELSEY BANKS KNEW she wanted to be a farmer. She grew up working on her maternal grandparents’ fruit and vegetable farm in eastern Ontario — picking asparagus and growing a love for pumpkins. But her…
Setting expectations

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY

December 2019 - THE ABILITY TO communicate well and effectively is the ‘secret sauce’ to family farm transition planning, according to Dr. John Fast, the Family Business Doctor. “It’s about the family’s ability to have the emotional intelligence…
Different visions

A SUCCESSION STORY: ANONYMOUS

December 2019 - Names have been changed to provide anonymity for the family. FOR ONE ONTARIO farm family, succession planning has been a struggle. They are no closer to completing the process than when they started more than…
Working through stress and frustration

FOCUS ON MENTAL HEALTH

December 2019 - PSYCHOTHERAPIST DEBORAH VANBERKEL’S job would be much easier if farm succession was simply a legal matter. Her Napanee-based company, Cultivate Counselling Services, would have a minor role at best. But parent-to-child farm ownership transactions are…
Choosing family first

A SUCCESSION STORY: DARCY SMITH

December 2019 - THERE WAS A time when Darcy Smith was adamant he would never farm. As a young teenager, he didn’t like that they worked every day after school and through the weekend and there always seemed…
Succession matters

FROM THE CEO'S DESK

December 2019 - WITH AN AGING farm population, it isn’t surprising that so many farm families are having the same conversation at the supper table. At least — the ones who are willing to talk about it. I…
Cropside: Avoiding the burn

AGRONOMIC INFORMATION FROM ONTARIO'S CROP SPECIALISTS

December 2019 - AS THE OMAFRA corn specialist, I am often called to the field to figure out what has gone wrong when there are signs of injury in the crop. This summer, one such visit diagnosed fertilizer…