Country Guide

A few weeks ago, I decided to fix my impact driver. The chuck had worn out and wouldn’t hold a screwdriver bit anymore. Every few screws the bit would fall out and, if you’ve ever worked in the shop, you know how quickly that can become frustrating. I ordered a replacement chuck online and figured it would be a quick repair. It wasn’t. The first problem was me. I rushed the installation and didn’t put it on correctly. I wanted the repair finished more than I wanted it done properly.

Have you noticed everyone is wearing some sort of gadget around their wrists these days? From teens to grannies, black straps and bling straps, watches, phones and Fitbits abound. I joined the bandwagon in November 2024. The weather was unusually mild, and it felt like a good time to start a walking program. Experts say 10,000 steps daily is the gold standard. My goal, naturally, was 11,000. Being frugal, I didn’t buy a new Fitbit.

The Back to Basics column explores key farm business management concepts and strategies that we should all periodically review and assess, no matter the farm sector, size or business growth stage. The production side of farming can have a way of putting balance sheets in the backseat. Yet the benefits and importance of analyses like cash flow statements have only grown. “In today’s agriculture industry, conditions are constantly changing.

Living in Canada, with its variable weather across our many provinces, regions and geographies (coastal and mountain weather is very different than prairie or southern points weather), that question can bring up a lot of answers and heated debate — pun intended. Why is it that some people seem unfazed by hot weather, while others detest it?

Growing up on a dairy farm in Nova Scotia, Kim Waalderbos always thought the path into farming was through a family farm transition. Instead, after earning her agriculture degree from the University of Guelph and completing graduate studies in dairy epidemiology, she and partner David deVries found another way. In 2012, they bought an idle dairy farm in New Brunswick and started milking cows through the provincial new entrant program.

We hope you enjoy this column about the lighter side of farming, including memories and stories from the past. You’ll occasionally see these pop up in the Farm & Family section of The Western Producer, because some days we just need a chuckle or a fond remembrance of days gone by. I was raised on a mixed farm with about thirty Holstein milk cows. We had grain and hay and about twenty “range” cows.

There’s a new kid on the block when it comes to programs for the next generation of agriculture. On July 9, Farm Management Canada (FMC) launched Canada’s Young Farmers, which aims to connect and amplify young voices in agriculture by supporting other organizations across the country. Now, I know what you’re thinking: another young ag/leaders/farmers program/mentorship/initiative?! Do we need another one (insert eye roll)? I had the same question, as well as: is this the right direction?

So much of what we aim to do in our interactions with others depends on our ability to communicate. Author Charles Duhigg’s recent book, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection, explores what it takes to be just that. Duhigg suggests that we first remember there are three types of conversations: Knowing which type of conversation you are having is helpful, and it’s also important for those in the conversation to agree on this.

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Over the course of my career as an athletic therapist, one of the standout supports that I’ve noticed clients benefit from is a guided understanding of what actually occurs from the inside out during the injury rehabilitation process. This doesn’t mean long lectures or trying to understand in-depth injury processes, but often, when we encounter the shock of injury and the uncertainty that can come with it, sensations are amplified by the very nature of that uncertainty.