“It’s literally costing me money now to seed canola… $200,000 that…[we] lost off of our canola, just like that, just due to the tariffs.” This is the message that Christi Friesen of Rebellion Farms based out of Brownvale, Alta., wanted to get across to Premiere Danielle Smith in a recent post on X (see below)…. Read More
Category: Economics
In this episode of The Truth About Ag, co-hosts Kristjan Hebert and Evan Shout sit down with Lisa Ashton, agriculture policy lead on RBC’s Climate Action Institute Team, to dive into the big questions shaping Canadian agriculture. Ashton shares insights from RBC’s latest reports, including the Food First Report, breaking down why RBC is investing… Read More
The average value of Canadian farmland continued to climb in 2024, increasing by 9.3 per cent, less than the 11.5 per cent increase reported in 2023, according to the 2024 FCC Farmland Values Report. “The limited supply of farmland available for sale combined with lower borrowing costs resulted in an increase in the average price… Read More
How often is it said that farming is a lifestyle? Sometimes it is a hard one, it’s sometimes frustrating, but often also rewarding in more ways than just money. While it is a lifestyle, farms and ranches are also businesses with high-stakes financial decisions required on a regular basis. With cattle prices hitting record highs,… Read More
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
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
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
In closing out the first quarter of 2024, Farm Credit Canada has released a report comparing current harvest equipment sales to last year and the five-year average. Not surprisingly, combine sales are way down over the five-year average, but nearly all harvest equipment classes have pulled back significantly from 2023 sales, a strong sales year…. Read More
After a decent start of better markets in terms of cash cattle, the futures market ended the week to the down side. This volatility is related to news around the ongoing outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), currently confirmed in eight U.S. states and in 33 herds of U.S. dairy cattle. Earlier in the… Read More
There is growing caution among analysts on where markets will land at and after harvest 2023, as some inflation pressures ease and prices drop. Input prices have pulled back, too, but for those who may still need to price product, the clock is ticking. Kevin McNew, vice president of research and chief economist for Farmers… Read More