Cultivating Business The official publication of the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors Winter 2011 - 2012 Canada Post Mail Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 With compliments of:2011 - 2012 / www.cafanet.com 5 MESSAGES: 7 Message from the Chairman 9 Message from the Executive Director FEATURES: 11 Tax Considerations for Farm Enterprises 14 Transition Planning: Preparing for Your Future 16 The Skilled Farm Successor CAFA’S COMINGS AND GOINGS: 17 Get Your CAFA Certification 18 CAFA News and Upcoming Events 34 BUYER’S GUIDE Cultivating Business contents SPECIAL SECTION: 19 The 2011/2012 Canadian Farm Advisors Resource Guide 19 Alberta 21 British Columbia 21 Manitoba 23 Nova Scotia 23 Ontario 31 Saskatchewan Published By: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. 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Cultivating Business Published For: Canadian Association of Farm Advisors Box 578 Blaine Lake, Saskatchewan S0J 0J0 Toll free: (877) 474-2871 Direct: (306) 466-2294 Fax: (306) 466-2297 Email: info@cafanet.com CAFA’S NATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS ALBERTA • Don Roberts, CAFA Chair, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Calgary, AB • Janet Nielsen, JRN Consulting Services Red Deer, AB SASKATCHEWAN • Leo Kosokowsky, Past CAFA Chair, AgMpower Services Ltd. Blaine Lake, SK • Dwight Watson, Canada West Financial Group Regina, SK MANITOBA • Myles Pouteau, CAFA Treasurer, Frostiak & Leslie Chartered Accountants Winnipeg, MB • Roger Mills, Manitoba Dairy Farm Management Group Steinbach, MB ONTARIO • Ted Clysdale, Ganaraska Financial Peterborough, ON • Amanda Hammell, RBC Royal Bank Hanover, ON • George Sinker, George E. Sinker Law Firm Strathroy, ON CAFA Co-Founders: Donna Hastings and Howard Morry2011 - 2012 / www.cafanet.com 7 National Chairman’s Message T he past year has been my first full year as your Chairman, and unfortunately, will also be my last. My work commitments as well as my short-term goal of retirement have led me to the point in time where it is best to move away from the Chair pos- ition. It has been my privilege to serve as the Chair for almost two years. Last year at our Annual General Meeting, we were able to report to our members that we had done a number of matters for the betterment of the Canadian Association of Farm Advis- ors (CAFA). This year is no exception, as we continue to hold regular monthly meetings to direct and assist Liz Rob- ertson, our talented and more than ca- pable Executive Director, as well as to set direction for the organization. We continue to be a relatively new organ- ization, which means we sometimes encounter growing pains. In the past year we instituted a discipline policy in the event that our members stray and we continue to keep a tight control over the financial matters of the organiza- tion. Once again, we all recognize the value of CAFA but we also recognize the current economic conditions that we all face. We were able to keep our fees at the current level; however, this is becoming an increasing challenge. Our membership losses have been replaced with new members so that we have actually had a slight increase in members in the last year. We need new members; members who are motivated to keep our chapters focused and our meetings a source of business referrals and knowledge transfer. The Board can only do so much in attracting members so we urge each of you to provide at least one new referral this year. In doing so, it will benefit you, as we may be in a position to reduce our annual fees if membership levels can increase. As you all know, we are a very National organization, with strong branches in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. We are also seeing great inter- est in British Columbia. Our National Annual General Meeting will be held in Regina, Saskatchewan again this year, on November 24, 2011. Please try to join this meeting either in person or by teleconference. This is your organiza- tion and we need your input to continue to make it stronger every year. We also have set the dates for our regional con- ferences with Manitoba in Brandon on November 17, 2011; Saskatchewan in Regina on November 25, 2011; British Columbia in Abbotsford on January 25, 2012; Alberta in February 2012 and finally two conferences in Ontario— in Ottawa on February 2, 2012 and in Woodstock on June 7, 2012. Please try to attend the conference in your area and feel free to join other provinces at their conferences. Finally, I urge you to share your CAFA designation whenever you can. We want to make the brand as strong as we can so that we become well rec- ognized as farm advisors. If you are presenting, or at any meetings you may attend, proudly display that you are a CAFA member. As we head into the winter months, we recognize that as consultants we often spend much time on the road. Please be safe in your travels. Don Roberts, CAFA National Chair Why Certification Matters "I have been a CAFA member of the Walkerton, Ontario chapter for several years. Networking with the professionals is worth its weight in gold. I have established relation- ships with the local professionals who have participated in numerous farm succession planning seminars/ workshops. I have also established relationships with members of the London chapter, John Uren and Betty Hansen. Being able to identify my- self as a CAFA member and working with other CAFA members has helped me grow and expand my succession planning career. Working with the various members helps give me that extra edge when working with farm families. These relationships build a strong farm advisory team for me to count on, it develops integrity and creditability. Clients appreciate the fact that I have a team of qualified professionals supporting me as we work together, doing what is in the best interest of the clients while figur- ing out the plan that works for them and gets the job done." Nancy Ackert, Kincardine, Ontario nancy@nancyackert.ca8 The Canadian Association of Farm Advisors2011 - 2012 / www.cafanet.com 9 W elcome to our third annual edition of Cultivating Busi- ness, the magazine of the Canadian Association of Farm Advisors (CAFA) Inc. In December of 2010, CAFA’s na- tional office moved to a new location in Saskatchewan from Manitoba where CAFA originated. The national office for CAFA is 110 kilometres north of Saska- toon. The view from my desk is across a clean, clear lake to rolling barley fields. The view from the other side of the of- fice is to a never-ending forest of trees, the southern edge of the Parkland; Can- ada’s great boreal forest. This time of year, CAFA meetings reconvene and I am busy planning the annual conferences for the benefit of our members. This serves to remind me that CAFA is about people. It is about members all striving to be the best farm advisors/consultants they can be. It is about the farm families and businesses that hire them expecting the best ad- vice possible. CAFA members have an advantage in their membership and certification as it helps distinguish them as the go-to resource for credible farm advice. At a recent social event in Saska- toon, my husband and I happened to sit with a medical physicist. He is involved in cancer research and treatment at the Royal University Hospital. He explained to us that the University of Saskatch- ewan was working on becoming a hub/ cluster for cancer research. He saw this as a very exciting opportunity as clus- ters facilitate information-sharing, net- working and collaboration. Clusters are made up of cross- disciplinary teams with a synergistic exchange of ideas. Sound familiar? They have the potential to affect com- petition by increasing the productivity of the companies in the cluster, by driving innovation in the field and by stimulat- ing new businesses in the field. All very positive results. We are familiar with techno clusters such as Silicon Valley and the ag-cluster in Guelph, but there are others…like CAFA, a KNOW-HOW-based cluster. CAFA is industry specific, knowledge- based and produces economic benefits to farm families and farm businesses. CAFA’s regular meetings and confer- ences establish know-how clusters of multi-disciplinary professionals who all have an understanding and experi- ence with farm families and businesses. The collaboration, information shar- ing and networking opportunities are outstanding! My sincere appreciation goes to the chapter leaders who take the time and effort to arrange presentations for their chapters. From the meetings I’ve at- tended and the announcements that I have seen for 2010-11, there were some extremely interesting and informative speakers and topics. I am sorry that I couldn’t have been at more of them myself! This fall I plan to attend a number of different chapter meetings and, as always, am looking forward to the net- working and presentations. Please at- tend your chapter meetings as often as you can for your own education and making contacts, but also in respect for the efforts your colleagues/chapter executive went to in arranging them for you. We had four provincial conferences this past year in Manitoba, Saskatch- ewan, Alberta and Ontario, and they were outstanding. The topics and speakers were timely and informative plus the networking opportunities are unparalleled. A member once stated that “CAFA conferences are THE best farm advisor conferences bar none.” The growing number of registrants every year attest to the calibre of these events. I strongly recommend that every member attend. There is a great deal of value in the conferences for professional development and networking. I am excited about the 2011-12 con- ferences as we’re adding new ones and collaborating on others: We are inviting the alumni and final- ists of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers and Nuffield Scholars to join us for the morning program at our Mani- toba conference this year in Brandon on November 17. What an ideal group to network with and get to share ideas with! CAFA’s AGM is on November 24, 2011, followed by the Saskatchewan conference on the 25. Both are in Re- gina at the same time as Agribition. The first B.C. conference is planned for Abbotsford on January 25, 2012. This is the day of the Ag Gala, a won- derful B.C. food and networking experi- ence as the whole industry descends in the Valley for the week. The next day the Pacific Ag Show starts. Then, we are going to be having our first of two provincial conferences in On- tario on February 2, 2012, just outside of Ottawa. The Alberta conference will include a significant number of producers when we have it in February, in Red Deer. Finally, the second Ontario confer- ence is June 7, 2012, in Woodstock. We are working towards two con- ferences in each province each year to help solve the distance and traveling challenges that some members face in getting to the annual conferences. Chapter meetings and conferences— stay CURRENT and get CONNECTED. I wish all of you health, happiness and success. Liz Robertson Executive Director Executive Director’s MessageNext >