Production – Ontario Grain Farmer

Passing on the farm

DEVELOPING A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

December 2019 Matt McIntosh 0

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 [Read more]

Setting business goals

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION

December 2019 Matt McIntosh 0

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 [Read more]

Getting the conversation started

A SUCCESSION STORY: EMERY HUSZKA

December 2019 Ontario Grain Farmer 0

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 [Read more]

Finding fairness

PROVIDING FOR ALL MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY

December 2019 Lois Harris 0

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, [Read more]

Farm succession finances

PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT SECURITY

December 2019 Jeanine Moyer 0

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 [Read more]

Handing over the reins

A SUCCESSION STORY: BRAD AND JOSH BOERSEN

December 2019 Ontario Grain Farmer 0

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 [Read more]

A dream opportunity

A SUCCESSION STORY: KELSEY BANKS

December 2019 Ontario Grain Farmer 0

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 [Read more]

Setting expectations

COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY

December 2019 Lois Harris 0

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 [Read more]

Different visions

A SUCCESSION STORY: ANONYMOUS

December 2019 Ontario Grain Farmer 0

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 [Read more]

Working through stress and frustration

FOCUS ON MENTAL HEALTH

December 2019 Owen Roberts 0

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 [Read more]