After giving them some time to settle down, I started halter training them. While I was working with the foals, the kids were playing in the garden. They didn’t realize that they were an important part of the training process as well. It didn’t take long before the foals were quite comfortable with all of the kid noises and movements outside their pen.

On Nov. 14, the kids and I went to pick up our two-year-old stud colt. Willy from the Scott Hutterite Colony had put 30 days of riding on him for us. I’ve always liked this colt, and after we lost his sire this summer he became even more precious to us. He is a quiet but hard-working colt, and we are quite excited for his future as a sire.

On Nov. 17, Dan Mitchell from Kerrobert was able to come out and clean corrals for us. Afterward, he cleaned up an ancient fence line and some old junk that had been thrown into the bush years ago. Someday, we hope to be able to put up some fence again, but in the meantime, it should make it to where the summer fallow can be worked without an old piece of wire getting caught in the equipment.

Toward the end of November, it was becoming more evident that winter was coming. The temperatures were dropping lower at night, and the dugout water was beginning to freeze harder. On Nov. 22, we brought a group of cows home that relied on the dugout for water. The other two pastures of cows were able to stay out longer due to our wells. We left the solar-powered wells running so the water stayed open longer. That reduced the danger of the cows getting out on the ice and falling in.

On Nov. 24, Magic Environmental from Unity was able to come out and mulch the caragana and poplar trees that have grown in along the old fence line of a half section of farmland to the northeast of the home place.

When John had cattle, he always ran them on this half section called “Reinigers.” But over the years the moose have torn down the fence, and the trees have grown around and in it. Magic Environmental did a wonderful job mulching the trees that had grown up around the fence in the old yard and a couple sloughs.

We hope to be able to get the fence back up to graze the cows there in the spring so that our other pastures have time to grow.

Amidst all the farm projects and taking care of the animals, we also keep busy with schoolwork and projects. Joseph, who is in Grade 3, and James, who is in kindergarten, have schoolwork to do on most days. Fortunately, with the freedom of homeschooling we are able to do the school work around some of our other projects. That allows them to take part in different jobs and chores that they would ordinarily miss out on.

The two younger kids, Ian and Anna, are not about to be left out of anything and so they also have “schoolwork” to do, which usually means that they are playing together with blocks or playdough or colouring. They are very good at getting into mischief as well.

On Nov. 27, we brought another group of cows home. Their pasture was getting too short and we were worried that if it snowed, they would be out of feed very quickly. Also, due to the colder temperatures and the not-so-helpful wind, their water was beginning to freeze.

It happened to be Thanksgiving Day in the U.S., which we usually celebrate, so as a special treat for the kids, we stopped in at Karen’s Bar and Grill in Landis and had dinner before loading and hauling the cows home. On Sunday we celebrated Thanksgiving with John and Barb, Phil and Tish Ulrich, and Ron Hango. It is always good to take time to be thankful for all that we have and the good people that we are blessed to call friends.

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For many folks the holidays can be a difficult season. Surrounded by merriment, many people experience loneliness, heartache for previously strong but now broken family connections, or the emptiness felt from the loss of loved ones. Several farming families I have coached have found Christmas time to be difficult as they are still navigating farm transition conversations with some unresolved conflicts. Even for those who have family and friends to spend time with, gatherings focused on desserts and gift-giving cannot distract a farmer who is worried about the price of wheat or how to rewrite the will. Just when things have slowed down and you are reflecting on how stressful harvest was because of the ill-timed rain, someone wishes you “peace and joy.” The last thing you likely need is someone telling you “it’s the most wonderful time of year” while handing you a holiday card full of smiling faces.

What is it about joy that makes it difficult to feel?

I can’t say I’ve met a lot of farmers who have talked openly about moments of joy, I think because farming is so unpredictable in nature. In her book Atlas of the Heart, which is essentially an encyclopedia of emotions, Brene Brown defines joy as a “feeling of deep spiritual connection, pleasure and appreciation.” This is an emotion that a farmer may have difficulty embracing at times, given the challenges of running a business at the mercy of Mother Nature. Brown adds that joy is “the most vulnerable human emotion” because people have a hard time allowing themselves to “lean into good news [and] wonderful moments … because we believe if we allow ourselves to feel joy, we are inviting disaster.” Brown calls this “foreboding joy” — the idea that in a moment of potential happiness, we are waiting for something bad to happen. You may have experienced this at harvest time when your crop is coming in and you are seeing better yields than you expected. You want to feel hopeful in the moment — maybe even happy — but instead you think about and anticipate something bad happening that could affect your bottom line.

What if, this holiday season, we give ourselves a break from the pressure to feel joy if it’s not working for us? One alternative could be focusing on contentment, a state of being that Brown calls “the feeling of completeness, appreciation and ‘enoughness’ that we experience when our needs are satisfied.” Brown explains that “contentment is about satisfaction, and that, ironically, is an unsatisfying idea for a lot of people.” In a world that seems obsessed with over-the-top moments of happiness and seeking out all of the ways to buy and experience these moments, it can be hard to allow ourselves to feel just… fulfilled, not more or less. Think about the time you saw your neighbour’s new combine and thought, Wouldn’t I be happier if I had one? Brown concludes with “If we’re not satisfied with our life as a whole, does this mean we need to go and get and do the stuff that will make us satisfied… or does this mean we stop taking for granted what we have so we can experience real contentment and enoughness?”

I have seen many farm families experience contentment together after their second family meeting where we facilitate dialogue. Any tensions felt at the first meeting have decreased thanks to us addressing major conflicts that were previously not being talked about constructively. Everyone has had his or her voice heard, has expressed thoughts and feelings openly and has been able to share a hope or vision for the farm. There are no unrealistic outlooks giving false hope or pressure to be happy with anticipated changes to come. What is felt by those in the meeting is an appreciation for where the farm is at now, even without the new combine, and a sense of sufficiency because the family has realized keeping the farm and family intact is more important than buying the newest model.

Here are some ways to feel more content this holiday season:

Share the tough moments

When someone reaches out to wish you that “Merry Christmas” don’t be afraid to admit that it was a tough year. Just because it’s implied that the holidays are meant to be joyful, you can give yourself grace if that’s not how it feels.

Celebrate the small wins

You may not have figured out the perfect crop rotation for that new seed variety but you got through another growing season in good health. There is so much to appreciate on the farm when things are working well, even when the new or bigger goals are not yet accomplished.

Practice gratitude

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but research shows gratitude can improve sleep, mental health, physical wellbeing and more. Robert Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California, explains that gratitude helps us appreciate what we have instead of seeking out new things to make us happy. He writes, “gratitude makes us appreciate the value of something… we’re less likely to take it for granted.” While this practice may seem oversimplified, research has shown that adopting small habits of expressing gratitude, individually or in teams, can have a big impact.

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From Aug. 11-15, I took the boys and Anna into Wilkie for Vacation Bible School. I was teaching the faith section, and little Anna was my helper. The kids all had fun, and I enjoyed getting to share the faith with kids of different backgrounds and knowledge levels.

Gregory started cutting the hay in the Landis ditch on Aug. 12. After Vacation Bible School we would rush home to see what Gregory might need and then head to the garden to see what we could accomplish there.

On Aug. 16, we loaded up the kids and headed to Unity for the Reiniger family reunion. They haven’t had a reunion for more than 20 years, so while there were quite a few familiar faces for me, there were also many I had never met and quite a few that Gregory hadn’t met either.

They calculated that there were 579 descendants of John and Mary Reiniger, but a baby was born that weekend and happily bumped that number up to 580. It was a fun time with plenty of playtime for the kids and a good opportunity to visit with people we don’t see very often. On Aug. 17 we went to mass at Landis and then went back to Unity for brunch and some final visits before everyone went their way again.

On Aug. 18 we were blessed with a visit from “The Aunties.” My friends Michelle and Lacey made their annual trip to Canada to visit their godsons and the rest of the Eppichs. They were only able to stay a few days, but it was an action-packed three days. There was a lot of playing, garden work, crocheting, hiking and even a campfire in the backyard before they headed back on the morning of Aug. 21.

On Aug. 24 we took the opportunity to slow down a bit. After mass and brunch we took the kids out to the pasture to ride and check the cows and pastures. The boys are all getting to be better riders. Joseph is willing to take on new challenges, James is starting to ride on his own and Ian is balanced enough to sit in the saddle on his own while I lead his horse. In one pasture the cows were nowhere to be found, so James and I checked every bush and draw. Finally, we found them along the lake bank enjoying the breeze and the little bit of shade from the trees. We’ve now dubbed that pasture “hidden herd pasture.”

On Aug. 26 we took two balers and worked on the ditches toward Landis. We had a good day but didn’t quite get it all finished. Gregory had a friend come and help him a bit with a tractor the next morning, so we didn’t get out until the afternoon to try to finish baling. By that time, it was too dry and we had to quit and come back the next morning.

The next morning things were working better for the hay, but the balers were not co-operating. Gregory almost lost a tire on his baler. Luckily, he caught it in time to go home for parts and didn’t wreck the tire. Before he could get his baler fixed, my baler lost a chain. Once all the parts and pieces were gathered together, we worked together to get both balers going again. Before long we had all the ditch hay baled for 2025.

We drove the balers home, and then Gregory went to start swathing the organic barley. And just like that, harvest was here! Gregory worked on the barley and then swathed the sainfoin patch. It wasn’t good enough to harvest this year, so I baled it for feed. Gregory then moved right into the oats. He was trying to get the oats in a swath before the wind shelled it out. He’s quite happy with the crop that is there. He has to get the finishing touches done on the combines and the trucks before we can get to combining, but all will come together with time.

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As I shared in the last column, we went to two funerals and lost our main stallion, Pepper. Though those were big events for us, there was also a lot of work that was done, and some family took the time to come and visit us.

On July 6 my great-aunt and her husband came up from Idaho to visit us. Aunt Heidi and Sherman had fun playing with the boys and surprised Joseph with a new saddle. We put it on my gelding, and Joseph tried the new saddle out in the round pen. We have to find the hole puncher and shorten the stirrups a little bit, but other than that it will be a very nice saddle for him to use for some time.

We also went on a few adventures checking the pastures and the watering systems and had some American history lessons while whittling sticks. Sherman also did some baking with the boys, and he made us a nice supper one evening. John and Barb joined us, and we visited quite late.

They were only able to stay a few days. They had to head for home on July 9 in order to make it back in time for some meetings and appointments. We greatly enjoyed their visit, even though it was only for a short time.

After saying goodbye, Gregory set out to cut some ditch hay. He worked on cutting hay for several days. It was slow going with several breakdowns. Some were quick fixes, some required the welder and one was bad enough he had to switch haybines.

On the morning of July 13, our last mare foaled. That makes nine foals for the year: five colts and four fillies. All are healthy and are growing nicely.

On July 15 we started baling hay and got most of it wrapped up before the rain. I was also able to take some mares and foals and a few young mares out to pasture. They greatly enjoy being able to get out of the corral and eat some grass.

Early on the morning of July 28 we loaded up the kids and headed for Camrose, Alta., for Kathryn’s funeral. The church was full of people who came to pray for Kathryn. Gregory’s sister, Theresa, had taken Barb the previous day for prayers in the evening. Unfortunately, due to the timing, John was not able to attend because his prostate surgery was scheduled for the following day, and the trip was going to be too much for him with no time for recovery.

Theresa and Barb left shortly after the funeral to go home to take John into Saskatoon. They stayed the night so that he could rest before his morning surgery. We stayed for the burial and then went to Gregory’s sister Sandra’s place afterward to spend a little time with her. We ask that you please pray for Kathryn’s soul and for her family as well.

John’s surgery went well, and he wasn’t happy with the food and some of the nurses in the hospital, so he convinced them to send him home. When John got home, he checked on us and both Gregory and I were baling. The kids were pestering Phil and Tish Ulrich and having a wonderful time. Gregory’s baler was giving him some static and he ended up needing to take the pickup apart to replace a piece that had worn out.

The next day, with two balers that were working well, we set out to bale the ditches around home. We were just about done when I saw Gregory pull down into the bottom of the ditch and start inspecting his baler. He had a bearing go on one of the rollers that he couldn’t see from the tractor. Luckily, he caught it before it caught fire. He took his tractor and baler home to work on replacing the bearing while I finished the ditch.

The next morning, Aug. 1, we tried to put the roller with the new bearing back in, but a bolt broke and we had to wait for a replacement. John had decided he was going to North Battleford that day, so Gregory added the bolt to his list. Gregory switched back to cutting hay, and I went home to try to get ready for more visitors.

That evening Grandma Allen and Uncle Mike rolled into the driveway after a two-day drive from Idaho. They had a lot of fun with the kids. They brought some foam swords and a bubble machine, and the kids and the puppy had hours of fun popping the bubbles. They also brought two little school desks with them that Grandpa Allen had refinished a long time ago. Anna and Ian were quite excited about having their own desks to work at while the older brothers do their schoolwork. We also went on adventures checking the horses and looking at crops.

On Sunday evening, we got the mini-mare, Cloud, out and rode her in the round pen. Everyone had to have a turn, especially little Anna. James and Ian took turns with one riding and one leading and then they switched. Uncle Mike got a chance to encourage Joseph and give him a few pointers when he rode.

The next morning, Aug. 4, they had to start for home. We are so blessed to have family and friends who take the time to come and see us.

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We started July by going to the funeral of John’s aunt, Theresa. John has shared many stories of how Aunt Theresa came to help his mom when he was born and how she kept him from freezing that cold January. Last winter, we took the kids to the long-term care facility she was in to visit her and her brother, Uncle Eddie. Uncle Eddie passed away earlier this year, and their baby sister, Sister Rosetta, had passed away last fall.

Aunt Theresa was 97 when she passed away. She lived what could be called a full and happy life. She raised a family and was well loved by her children, her grandchildren, and her nieces and nephews.

Around the middle of August, the John and Mary Reiniger Family Reunion was held. John and Mary were Aunt Theresa’s parents. She was the last of the living siblings. There are more than 500 descendants of John and Mary. They are scattered all over Canada, with some also in the U.S. and in Europe. Almost half of them were registered to attend the family reunion. It was a fun time of visiting with people we know, getting reacquainted with people who Gregory had met as a child, and meeting some for the very first time. It was also a time of celebrating those who have come before us. Aunt Theresa was not able to be with us like we had hoped, but she will be remembered and dearly loved.

The following week we were hit with another loss. I went out to do chores as usual and found our main stallion, Pepper, dead in the pasture. He had not been sick in any way, and his loss was a sudden and unexpected hit. He was not only a huge part of our breeding program but also a dearly loved friend. We took the kids out to say a last goodbye and buried him in the corner of his favourite pasture.

We will never be able to replace Pepper, but thankfully we have been keeping a few fillies over the years and a colt. The experts would have told us that we did it all wrong. In the beginning, instead of selling every foal and making sure our mares were paying for their own purchase price and bringing in a profit, we held back a few fillies and didn’t keep a spreadsheet telling us which mares were “earning their keep.” Today, even though we were not expecting the loss of Pepper, we can look at our herd and see the effects he had for us.

This year we had two Pepper daughters have their first foal. Both were fantastic mothers, and their foals are exactly what we were hoping for. Robin, as we call her, foaled four days after we lost Pepper. It was a beautiful reminder that while we have lost him, we have not lost all that he has given us. He is still here in his daughters and in his two-year-old son that we kept for a future stallion. He is also here in the knowledge and lessons that he had taught to both Joseph and James, who loved him dearly.

We were somewhat expecting the third loss, but it was still difficult to process and accept. On July 17 we received a call telling us Gregory’s niece and goddaughter, Kathryn, had passed away. She was not yet 21 years old. Last winter, she had been diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that had spread from her shoulder to both her lungs and then beyond.

We attended her funeral on July 28 in Camrose, Alta. As we came together to pray for Kathryn during her funeral mass, there were people from every part of her life who attended. There were people who had known her personally, but there were also people who knew her sisters or her mother or father. There were also people there who attended because they knew her grandparents, John and Barb. Back at home many neighbours reached out to us to offer their condolences and prayers as well.

We were a community of people of different ages, backgrounds and experiences who came together to pray for Kathryn. We ask that you also pray for her and her family as well.

Throughout these new trials and hardships, there has always been a small glimmer of hope. Once we step back a bit and wipe the tears away, we see it better. We see a family that was blessed to have their mother, grandmother and aunt, and while they will definitely miss her, she left us with her family and memories. Similarly, although our breeding program will never be the same without Pepper, we still have his son and daughters to carry on. We also look forward to two more of his foals next year.

And with Kathryn, it was a loss that the family will never forget, but it was also a coming together of a vastly different group of people. Perhaps through this loss someone will find their faith, either for the first time or through reconnection with one they had left behind in their busy world. Perhaps that is the most awe-striking part: people put aside their busy lives and came together to mourn and pray for Kathryn. We need to come together more and leave the busy world aside for a moment.

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I have talked to many farmers who are keen to learn from others and apply their learning to their land and stock management and farm businesses practices. Successors and founders alike are taking courses, reading, sharing with their peers, going to events and conferences — the types of things that can contribute to farm and farmer success and wellbeing.

Here are some ideas for how to stay curious and maintain a learner’s mindset on the farm.

Engage with next-gen new energy and new ideas

People on your team, often the next generation, will come to the founders and farm partners to express that they want to try something new, or to ask questions about why things are done a certain way. The motivation might be to gain better understanding and contribute to some shifts or improvements to human resources management or staffing, increase profitability or add a new revenue stream, make changes to grazing or crop planning to manage the resource base, work to access new markets, or apply new learning. Expressing an interest in new ideas or trying new things demonstrates a degree of leadership, enthusiasm and interest in the work. Coming forward with new ideas can take courage, vulnerability and trust, especially if new ideas or free thinking haven’t been given space or been received well in the past.

I often talk to next-generations of farmers who feel frustrated there is not enough room or space to try something new. Note, though, it can also be the case that folks assume there is no room for new ideas, and the real issue is one of open communication rather than having an open mind. When people want some influence and agency to try something new, and are faced with “This is the way the grandparents always did it,” enthusiasm and creativity can be dampened. I am first-generation on my farm and while the cash flow challenges of running a startup presented a major hurdle, the independence of getting to try things (and sometimes having them not work out) served to build my entrepreneurial skills, resilience and creativity from a young adult age. Of course, some things have been tried before, and it can be wise to seek advice and wisdom from others via mentorship rather than have to make the same mistakes over again. It’s a balance: open communication and a culture of learning and curiosity and leaning into wisdom, mentorship and traditional knowledge are all very important.

Join (or organize) a peer group

Over the years I have been a part of a number of farmer-to-farmer peer support and learning groups. These have been great spaces to hear about what others are doing on the operations side of their business and also to create space for community. Some of those peer groups have been very family-friendly while others have been more focused on finances and production. Years ago, we hosted a series of peer group meetings in our local hall, and people would drive from hundreds of kilometres away to join. It was a great space to come together, and often share a meal. We would present topics to one another and discuss some of the finer details of managing our cattle, grain and vegetable operations and share and discuss other aspects of working and living where we do in Manitoba. We could ask questions, explore ideas and redefine measures of success for our farms. Our peer groups have changed and morphed over the years, and have contributed to building a web of connections across Canada and the U.S.

Embrace change

Farmers can feel significant amounts of stress when faced with change, especially when a change was not planned or foreseen. Faced with financial difficulty and uncertainty, high debt load, overwork, labour shortages and climate variability, making small changes to a system that seems to be working relatively well can be daunting or unappetizing. Years of experience in a particular way of doing something moves us toward a “right way” and a “wrong way.” Negative emotions that come with unforeseen changes, or hardship related to change, can cause us to miss opportunities for positive change. On the other hand, embracing positive emotions around change, such as hope, curiosity, creativity or optimism, can create a lot of possible options that we might not otherwise see. Exploring change can foster co-operative working relationships with employees, spouses and team members and within farm transitions, and allows us to move from zero-sum to mutually beneficial outcomes as we shift and move.

Calculate your risk and keep an open mind

When new ideas are brought to the table, or members of the farm team go out seeking new learnings and other ways of doing and seeing things, this either may be embraced or may lead to tension at home. Sometimes a desire for change by one party can be interpreted as an identity issue for the other party — say, maybe the next generation thinks the founder was ‘incorrect’ or ‘wrong.’ The culture of your farm will create the space for learners and changemakers to feel comfortable, and knowing that past contributions and future learning are complementary, not adversarial, can lead you toward better outcomes in communication and team building.

Often I hear from founders that successors have not been working on the farm for 30-plus years; they don’t have the experience to understand the potential outcomes and risks of specific decisions, or sometimes it is a spouse saying they do not want to start a new project or engage in major systems changes at this age or stage of life. It is important to know the “why” or the interests behind our desires for change and to keep learning from one another as we adapt, shift and transition.

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Yet on our farm the other day, we had a seven-person work crew that averaged 20.7 years old, all with a smile and a spring in their step, efficiently vaccinating and processing hundreds of cows and calves. (Although I suspect the two 40-somethings were nudging the average age up and likely dragging the agility down.)

My husband and I have entered a golden era in farm parenthood. Our kids are well past the diaper stage, are young enough to be at home under our roof, yet at a prime age to be excellent (ahem, crucial) ranch help. The automatic home-grown cattle handling system we started building 15 years ago is paying off!

There was a time when we would tackle big ranch jobs, such as sorting and trailing pairs out, when our children were not around. Now I find myself carefully navigating a calendar of school and external commitments to ensure the children are on hand for tasks big and small.

Another weird phenomenon is that the number of handy, capable kids around our camp seems to be increasing. There now appears to be an entire network of young friends ready to lend a hand in the calf pen, the show ring or the pasture. I’ve had a pitchfork pulled out of my hands by an unrelated young whippersnapper many times, and I’m not sad about it.

Outside of my in-house social experiment, I regularly observe enthusiastic young people who fuel my optimism about the future of food and farming.

I hear it in our local 4-H members casually discussing the price of cattle and feed. I saw it when I judged an agricultural video contest for our school division and was impressed by every creative, thought-provoking entry. I experienced it in our school when I hosted a class tour at our ranch, and the students asked insightful questions about why and how we do certain practices. I observe it at youth cattle shows when articulate, passionate young cattle producers take command of a show ring or a microphone.

We can’t ever stop considering how to retain and maintain youth in agriculture, but we should also recognize and value the generation of committed kids that we are building. But I have questions…

How do we continue to incorporate kids in a meaningful way? How do we help kids develop valuable skills and exert their independence while balancing the fact that they are still children? How do we foster an appreciation for non-farm hobbies and adventures? How do we avoid burnout? How do we encourage youth from diverse backgrounds to participate in agriculture? Above all, how do we keep our kids safe?

It’s hard to know how the future will play out for the next generation, but I have a lot of optimism.

For now, I’ll continue to invest in that cattle-handling infrastructure we started building so many years ago: I’ll locate the missing spurs, procure more phone-charging cables, wash the manure off the “town” boots and clothes, fill the fridge full of food, and set another few places at the table.

I’ll hop in the passenger seat of the pickup truck while I watch our children intuitively forge a path and fill gaps around our ranch I didn’t know existed, better than I ever could myself.

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Inadequate cash flow management

Unlike other industries, cash flow management can be particularly difficult for farmers due to the fluctuations in timing of expenses and income. It can be impractical to have consistency from year to year when high upfront input costs can send your expenses through the roof. While it may not be feasible to have a consistent amount of cash in the bank, consider what you do have the ability to control.

For example: having a sum of cash set aside for tough years could be a good way to protect your operations from the inability to pay important bills. It may seem like an obvious first step, but using your historical financial information to determine how much cash is required to run operations in an average year may be a good place to start when evaluating how to best manage cash.

While improving record-keeping may be the priority, focusing on analyzing the farm’s future cash requirements can safeguard you from a major pitfall: the over-reliance on credit. If you are not aware of the cash requirements for the operations, you may find yourself forced to use credit to cover cash flow gaps which may be costing your bottom line with high interest.

Not managing debt effectively

While debt can be a tool to leverage income-producing assets, I’ve seen some farms accumulate too much debt. The obvious impact of over-leveraging can be the risk of interest rates further damaging the farm’s cash flow position, inability to make the required payments and ultimately the damage to future lending opportunities in the case of default.

If your farm is currently struggling with managing debt, consider prioritizing high-interest debt payments and make sure to spend adequate time refinancing when interest rates drop to ensure you are taking advantage of market savings where possible. It’s important to have ongoing discussions with your accountant or financial advisor to make sure your debt management strategy is appropriate for your specific operations.

Lack of diversification

Most farmers will have specific industry strengths that make it easy to invest the bulk of their time and money into one specific area of farming. This can significantly impact cash flow management, as most of your income may be reliant on a single revenue stream.

It may be time to start thinking outside the box. I’ve seen cattle farmers open storefronts to sell their beef alongside other locally sourced meats, I’ve seen potato farmers branch out into the liquor industry and grain farmers expand into apiculture. While some options may seem particularly cumbersome, consider how expanding into another revenue stream could compliment your existing operations. However, be aware of the risk of overexpansion. Expanding too quickly without adequate financial resources or market analysis could cause more harm than good.

Risk management

Risk management in all its forms — crop and livestock insurance, futures contracts and government programs being the primary avenues — may be an area your farm can improve. It can seem like an impossible balance between managing risk and avoiding overspending on expensive premiums, but it may be wise to consider whether you notice a specific trend.

Everyone has a risk tolerance level, and it may be useful to identify yours. Are you noticing consistent overspending on insurance out of fear of every worst-case scenario? Are you taking advantage of government programs that may be beneficial, such as AgriStability and AgriInvest? Are you staying up to date on available grants for specific investment opportunities that your farm may be undertaking?

Misaligned investment priorities

This pitfall seems to be significantly more predominant in operations that are managed by more than one individual. Allocating funds to areas that may not be providing a solid return on investment could be causing the farm to struggle with cash availability. An example would be one “unaligned” individual investing in non-essential equipment upgrades when the cash could have been better used to improve soil health for an increase in yields in future years.

That’s not to say equipment upgrades are non-essential; under certain circumstances it can be critical to upgrade equipment. The importance lies in ensuring all decision-makers are on the same page, requiring constant communication. If this is a pain point your farm is experiencing, it may be worth it to implement some policies to safeguard against unnecessary spending. An example could be to require two signatures on every cheque over a certain dollar amount, so significant purchases are reviewed by another individual.

Neglecting technology adoption

Farm technology is developing at a very fast pace. This pitfall has two areas to watch out for: underinvesting, and investing too quickly. I have met many farmers reluctant to invest in new technology and, on the flipside, many who have allocated resources to several new pieces of technology regardless of its viability. Both sides have significant potential negative impacts on the farm’s profitability.

While choosing not to invest in technology could drastically impact potential efficiencies, it could also play a role in the work force your farm attracts. It is also important to consider the long-term plan of your farm: are you contemplating handing the farm operations to the next generation at some point in the future? It may be wise to gradually invest in new technology to support the next generation, ensuring they won’t face the burden of making drastic, costly upgrades to modernize the operation once they take over.

Neglecting succession and estate planning

It can be easy to put succession planning on the back burner year after year. Unfortunately, one can never truly know when it may become “too late” for estate planning. It’s best to initiate these discussions early and frequently as you consider transitioning your farm. While it may be obvious to include farming kids in the discussion, also consider the importance of involving non-farming kids. “Fair” does not always mean “equal,” but the more conversation that takes place around these topics, the fewer surprises there will be for everyone involved — not to mention that the earlier you discuss these topics with your team of advisors, such as your lawyer and accountant, the more tax planning opportunities may arise, keeping more money in the jeans of future farmers.

The unique struggles farmers face often breed resilience and strong work ethics. While some struggle may be good for your mental toughness, consider how cash management, diversification, risk management and investments could reduce unnecessary struggles faced by your farm. A few visits to your accountant may provide a tailored solution based on your farm’s financial health, easing the pressure of making significant decisions on your own.

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It was a long drive to begin with, but some excited kids who would not nap for fear of missing something and a little bit of car sickness made it a very long day. Our Explorer also gave us a bit of trouble when we were about four hours out of Missoula. It started losing transmission fluid and due to the design of it, Gregory wasn’t too sure where it was coming from. We called my good friend Michelle, whom we were going to see in Missoula, and let her know we were going to continue on slowly. She was poised and ready to come and get us with a friend’s car hauler if need be. She also gathered up a few tools and bought some transmission fluid and a funnel for us before the stores closed.

We arrived safely at Michelle’s house and she helped me get the kids and all of our baggage into the house while her boyfriend and Gregory worked on the Explorer. They weren’t able to fix it but after doing a bit of research, Gregory figured out the best way to drive it so we could continue.

The next morning, Michelle took Joseph and James in her truck and we followed behind as she led us to Lewiston, Idaho, where Lacey lives. We stayed with Lacey and her husband Anthony that night and spent most of the next day as well. Michelle and Lacey took the boys to the dog park to play; they also played in Lacey’s yard, and there were lots of stories read from Lacey’s little library. Lacey and Michelle also had an early birthday party for James and Ian.

The next day, after more playing and stories, Lacey took us to the Palouse Discovery Science Center at Pullman, Washington. The boys had a blast! They saw lots of interesting things and it was a very good way to burn off some energy before we stuffed them back in the Explorer to head back to Missoula for the night.

We spent the evening of the 7th with Michelle again and then after an amazing breakfast, we travelled over Lost Trail Pass and into Salmon. We were able to meet up with my brother Nick. He took the boys and Gregory for a little hiking adventure and they had a very good time. We were also able to visit a little bit with Grandma Heather and Grandpa Lynn. Grandpa Lynn had aortic valve replacement the end of January and has been recovering slowly but surely.

While in Salmon we stayed with Michelle’s parents, Ricki and Theresa. Even though Theresa wasn’t feeling the best, she made a couple beds, read stories to the boys and became friends with Anna. Gregory has always enjoyed visiting with Ricki and he and Ricki were able to visit while feeding the cows and chopping wood. Ricki even took the boys in his backhoe to go and break water in the creek for the cows to drink. James and Ian have always liked machinery and it is a memory they won’t soon forget.

On Sunday we went to Mass at St. Charles Borromeo, the same church where Gregory and I got married. Afterward, we went to visit Grandpa Lynn’s baby sister, Jennelle. She had just gotten back home after having knee surgery.

We were at Uncle Mike’s in Pocatello Monday evening, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. Grandma Irene and Anna had fun making grumpy faces at each other and then laughing. Uncle Mike had three kidney stones and his back was hurting, but he wouldn’t let it stop him from enjoying the boys and teaching Joseph some cowboy wisdom and etiquette.

As we headed home Wednesday, the boys were sad to be leaving, but we had a surprise for them. We crossed into Canada at about 6:30 p.m. and headed to Lethbridge. Near Picture Butte we stopped and picked up a female chocolate Lab puppy. The boys never suspected we would do that! After being away from home for so long we decided to just keep driving. We got home around 4 a.m. on Feb. 13.

We are so grateful for everyone who welcomed us into their homes. Some took time off work; some postponed medical appointments; all went out of their way to feed us and make us feel at home. We are also thankful to John and Barb who held down the fort and did everything they could, and some things they shouldn’t have, to make sure our animals were taken care of.

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Why do we try to control or hold back our emotions? Can we instead use them to help us understand how we experience life on the farm — especially changes we go through?

Having been raised in the Mennonite culture, I have a hard time knowing how and when to express my emotions. Since my mother was told by my grandparents to hide how she felt, she was intentional about raising my brothers and I to be open about our feelings as much as we felt comfortable. Despite her efforts, I was still immersed in a culture in high school and university that did not encourage this openness or make space for emotions. Experiencing emotions — let alone expressing them to or in front of others — was not something I was used to.

Developed by psychology professors at Eckerd College in Florida, the Conflict Dynamics Profile tool indicates expressing emotions is a constructive — that is, healthy — conflict behaviour, one that can help us work through times of conflict (and, I would argue, times when we are experiencing changes). Identifying our emotions first helps us understand how to communicate them to others. But, if we’re raised to hide how we feel, it can be difficult to even begin to know what we’re feeling.

That day in my kitchen, it was hard to understand what I was feeling because although I was crying, it didn’t feel like sadness. A few days later, I remembered what I’d learned in a workshop about how people experience change. Every time a person goes through a major change in life, they experience a downward trend of negative emotions — often expressed as anger or sadness — before they can fully accept the change.

That concept comes from a visual called The Change Curve, first introduced in the 1960s by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross to explain the grieving process. As my trainer noted, we need to experience the downward slope — the bottom of the curve, where sadness or grief occurs — to move forward and fully accept the change.

Once I had identified I was feeling some type of grief, I gave myself some grace. As the U.S. academic Brene Brown notes, grief can have three elements: loss, longing and feeling lost. She writes, “The more difficult it is for us to articulate our experiences of loss, longing or feeling lost to people around us, the more disconnected and alone we feel.”

So now I was still left wondering: ‘What am I grieving? Am I feeling lost?’

My husband and I had been looking forward to moving to the farm for a few years. Our four-year-old daughter was old enough to feel excited about being closer to family, yet young enough to make new friends easily before starting school. We were leaving a small acreage in an area where we didn’t know many of our neighbours, and now embracing a farming lifestyle in a rural community where we already had many connections. It was a huge change for all of us, but one we were ready for, at least mentally. Our emotions had not yet caught up to all these changes. We were still at the bottom of the curve. The reality was that we still had a lot of planning to do with his parents, who have been cattle and grain producers for their sole income. There was still so much uncertainty in our future, even though we told ourselves we were making the right decision for our family to move to the farm. What we were longing for was what Elaine Froese calls the “three Cs” in farm transition: clarity of expectations, certainty of timelines and agreements, and a commitment to action.

READ MORE: Suddenly our life had changed

I turned to the book Bittersweet by the U.S. writer Susan Cain to give me some hope and insight into how this “grief” could help me feel ready for the next chapter our family was in. Cain’s book discusses how feelings of longing and sorrow “make us whole” and help us acknowledge the imperfections in life. She writes that moments of loss in life are just as important as moments of joy and success, arguing that our “highest states,” such as finding meaning, emerge from understanding the bittersweet nature of life. “These losses shape your psyche; they lay down patterns for all your interactions. If you don’t understand them and actively work to form new emotional habits, you’ll act them out again and again.”

While I have not yet discovered all the possible meanings about the grief I was experiencing, I am thankful that I cried that day. The release of emotions, and later the ability to talk about how I was feeling with my husband, was an important stage in the journey we are on together. My hope for farm families is that they can explore their emotions instead of hiding from them and acknowledge that how we feel can be an incredible indicator to learn what we need.

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