Our 33-year-old daughter was lamenting the fact there is no longer a Sears Christmas Wish Book. Decades ago, she delighted in flipping pages of the coloured catalogue seeking out requests for her wish list, hoping the cherished gifts would be under our Christmas tree.

Some farmers had a phenomenal 2017 crop season, thanks to heaps of snow that resulted in residual moisture during the hot, dry summer.

As a Hudson Institute-certified coach, I have been taught to always ask, “How old are you?” This is not rude. This is a helpful piece of information to assess what key issues need to be talked about. Scott Zimmer of Bridgeworks has helped me with decoding helpful language for communication between the generations.

As Christmas approaches, you may be feeling like Ebenezer Scrooge if you’ve had a tough year, but regardless of how the farm year turns out, you need labour support to get the job done.

I could hear her frustration and feel the pain as I read the lengthy email describing an all-too-common scenario for farm families today. The aging parents have been pressured to be “fair” to the non-farm siblings, who have noticed farmland values have increased significantly.

A reader asked me to write about the emotions of quitting farming. Let’s take the approach of identifying the farm culture attributes farm founders appreciate. Imagine what it might feel like when the following qualities are present or missing on the farm team.

It would be fun for you to be a fly on the wall of my office when the calls from farm moms come in. They range in age from 33 to 93, and their heartfelt cries ring in my ears as I write this.

I soaked up the seminar “Dealing with Abusive Behaviour at Work” led by Dave McNaughton, an HR specialist from Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Farmers often stop me in the hall of conferences to ask deeper questions keeping them awake at night. The most common question is: “Elaine, how do we even get people to the table? My parents are refusing to talk, and my grandparents are even more stubborn.”