Update: As of Thursday, August 22 at 00:01 eastern time, trains are parked and picket lines have formed at CN and CPKC offices and rail yards across the country as the railways and union failed to reach new collective bargaining agreements prior to the strike/lockout deadline. I feel like all I have talked about on… Read More
Author: Shaney
With an unprecedented rail strike involving both CPKC and CN Rail possible as early as August 22, 2024, Canadian farmers are bracing for a major disruption in grain, fertilizer, and fuel movement unlike anything ever seen before. In July, RealAgristudies asked Canadian farmers about their overall level of concern regarding a potential strike. Eighty per… Read More
The Saskatchewan agricultural industry is dealing with some sad news this week after the passing of former agricultural minister, Lyle Stewart. I have fond memories of my personal encounters with Lyle as the agriculture minister. Stewart’s tenure as ag minister overlaps with RealAgriculture really ramping up in the field activities (the early to mid 2010s)… Read More
The first milestone toward gaining a clearer picture of the future of North America trade was reached in Mexico this week, as Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City and an environmental engineer, won the presidential election in a landslide victory. Sheinbaum, a member of the left-wing and populist Morena party, was endorsed by outgoing… Read More
As expected by a majority of analysts, the Bank of Canada lowered the overnight rate by twenty-five basis points. It’s the first rate cut in four years. For farmers with floating or variable rate loans, this will be welcome news. “With further and more sustained evidence underlying inflation is easing, monetary policy no longer needs… Read More
The latest Saskatchewan crop report, dated May 30th, shows farmers have made significant seeding progress. According to the report, 77 per of seeding is now complete, though this remains behind the five-year average of 91 per cent and the ten-year average of 89 percent. Despite these figures, crop emergence is reported to be in excellent to… Read More
New survey data shows around half of farms that have farmland rental agreements up for renewal this year are expecting rental rates to increase, with some anticipating a significant jump in the land rent component of their cost of production. Rising land rent costs are coinciding with the increasing cost of owning land, as borrowing… Read More
Farmers across Canada are feeling varying levels of certainty about their ability to market their crops effectively at a time when the market has bounced off of the lows seen through the winter months, according to the latest survey for the Canadian Farmer Sentiment Index, conducted by RealAgristudies. Note: The Canadian Farmer Sentiment Index is… Read More
The April 2024 results from the Canadian Farmer Sentiment Index reveal a nuanced picture of current farm financial performance nationwide, highlighting the variations in sentiment across demographics and farm types. This latest installment of the survey, which reflects farmers’ financial status today compared to 12 months ago, presents an intriguing shift: for the first time… Read More
With farm profitability being a concern for 2024 comes speculation that the equipment industry will face sales challenges as a result. Every month the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) provides an analysis of the new equipment sales environment for Canada and the United States. In Canada (see table below), the April numbers show strength in… Read More