Geena Luckett says one of the most popular wines at Luckett’s Vineyard, near Wolfville, N.S., is a vintage known as Phone Box Red, in recognition of her dad Pete’s British heritage. In the centre of the vineyard is a red phone box, such as those commonly found in England. The phone within is operating, and visitors can call anywhere in the world for free.

Geena Luckett

Outstanding Young Farmers 2024: The glamour in the wine takes hard work among the vines

Owning and operating a vineyard isn’t quite as glamorous as Geena Luckett imagined during her university days, as her dad was establishing Luckett’s Vineyard in Nova Scotia’s Gaspereau Valley, not far from the Bay of Fundy. After starting out as an events manager at the winery, then learning about all other aspects of the business, […] Read more

It’s not unreasonable for parents who’ve spent decades building an operation to hope that a successor is committed for the long haul.

How to talk about ‘fair family price’ for land, other assets

Seeds of Encouragement: A family farm transfer likely involves some gifting, given the market values for farmland

Elaine writes: “Fair family price” versus “fair market value price” (or FFP vs. FMV) is often a tense conversation between a farm’s founders, needing to sell assets for their personal income stream, and a buyer, often the cash-strapped successor on the farm. To offer readers some wisdom on this conversation I asked our coaching teammate […] Read more



Governments have only a limited amount of sway over markets at large but can influence investor sentiment on different sectors, such as health care or alternative energy.

Is it best, when investing, to stay politically agnostic?

Investing for Fun and Profit: Besides, how much influence do governments really have on the markets?

I began this column the day after the great Harris/Trump debate. Based on the publishing schedule, you might be reading it just before the U.S. election. A lot can happen in both politics and the markets over a six-week period, but I thought it would be an appropriate time to review how politics may or […] Read more


Ask, don’t assume, what level of involvement each person would like to have in the farm’s decision-making process.

Build a simple, effective farm framework for decision-making

Seeds of Encouragement: Ask the right questions now to establish a governance model that works for your farm family

If you listen to enough ag podcasts, you’ll soon conclude that the success of a farm family business comes from people having the power to flourish and make good decisions. Courtney Pullen’s book Intentional Wealth: How Families Build Legacies of Stewardship and Financial Health speaks to effective family systems. Strong families that know their values […] Read more

When stock water levels drop, a solar water system can help extend the quantity and preserve quality in the remaining water.

Prepare your ranch and business plan for bouts with drought

A Little Bit Western: There are ways to extend feed and water — but do so with caution and monitoring

In late summer I was invited to the Canadian Beef Industry Conference in Saskatoon to share my perspective on navigating drought. I would prefer covering a more cheerful topic, but as a fourth-generation Palliser Triangle dweller who resides on a ranch abandoned not once but twice by its former occupants, I’ll admit I’ve got experience […] Read more


Laval-based Alimentation Couche-Tard, which owns the Circle K and Couche-Tard convenience store brands, in August announced a “friendly, non-binding” merger proposal to Seven & i Holdings, owner of the 7-Eleven brand. The Tokyo company last month rejected Couche-Tard’s proposal.

Even in a weak economy, strong performers exist

Investing for Fun and Profit: We limit our exposure in some sectors, but ‘there’s more than one way to skin a cat’

The saying “There’s more than one way to skin a cat” probably dates back to medieval times when both domestic and wild cats were skinned for their fur. A literal interpretation would be rather repugnant in modern times, yet the saying persists to represent multiple ways to achieve a goal. Two issues ago, I bemoaned […] Read more

Not long ago people carried Nokias, Motorolas and BlackBerrys. Ten years from now, will we still all have iPhones?

A brief history of market dominance

Investing for Fun and Profit: Is the publicly traded past a guide for the future?

The largest 10 U.S. companies by market capitalization (number of shares, multiplied by price per share) currently represent about 30 per cent of the value of the entire U.S. publicly traded universe, and the U.S represents about 60 of the world market cap. Therefore these 10 companies represent about 18 per cent of the entire […] Read more


For each long harvest day ahead, your language and behaviour set the tone.

How to clean up your conflict filter

Seeds of Encouragement: Shift out of an avoidance mindset and face conflicts for what they are

When the dust of harvest rolls and clogs up the efficiency of your combine filters, you don’t keep going — you stop and clean or replace the filter. If you spread your fingers open across your face, you are creating body language for the conflict filter clogging up the communication for your farm team. It’s […] Read more