Programs offered in Ontario under the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) are now open for applications for cost-share funding. CAP, a five-year federal-provincial-territorial initiative, supports Canada’s agri-food and agri-products sectors through cost-share funding opportunities. It’s modelled on the previous Growing Forward 2 program, but there are differences, explains Margaret May, regional program lead for the Ontario Soil and… Read more »
Category: Farm Management
Where could Ontario farmland prices go in 2018?
Ontario farmers continue to spend big money on farmland, especially in the southwest part of the province. According to the annual Southwestern Ontario Land Values report from Valco Consultants, the median price paid for an acre of farmland in this region of the province came in at $12,710 in 2017, an average increase of 9.7… Read more »
MYFB — Ep. 30: When and why to incorporate the farm
Perhaps more contentious than the buy versus rent debate is the question of when and why to incorporate the farm. The federal government proposed sweeping changes to how taxes were calculated for corporations last summer. The changes were met with significant push-back from the farm community, as the new rules would have a significant impact… Read more »
Quebec farm transitions through 11 generations
The road that runs along the St. Lawrence River’s north shore from Montreal to Quebec City is known as the Chemin du Roy (King’s Road). Built during the French regime, it was the colony’s very first road. In 1667, shortly before marrying a fille du roy (king’s daughter) named Élizabeth Crêtel, Nicolas Langlois acquired land… Read more »
5 recommendations to keep Canadian farmland in farmers’ hands
Canada is losing farmland each day. It’s not technically disappearing, mind you, it’s being bought up, levelled, and paved over for new suburbs and shopping malls. It’s also being speculated on, sometimes by surprising buyers — maybe it’s local farmers, but more likely by an investment fund looking to cash in on the seemingly endless… Read more »
TechTour LIVE rolling across the prairies
Spoiler alert: if you’re headed to TechTour LIVE in Red Deer on Thursday or Lethbridge on Friday, this post contains some highlights and a preview of what you can expect! The TechTour Live bus is rolling west across Western Canada, as the four-cities-in-four-days event tour hosted by RealAgriculture and Corteva Agriscience kicked off in Brandon… Read more »
This year’s Ag Safety Week focused on senior safety
Is your farm family ag safe? It’s Canadian Ag Safety Week, and the Canadian Agriculture Safety Association has once again teamed up with the Canadian Federation of Agriculture for the third year of its three-year campaign helping families farm safe. Each of the three years focused on a different generation of the family farm. This… Read more »
What can young people do to start a farm transition discussion?
Three transition experts share their advice on the best way for the next generation to start the farm transition conversation. Show them you mean business Since any successful inter-generational transition must become a business transaction, I’ve found that young people who begin with a business approach tend to be taken more seriously. What’s this look… Read more »
Next steps for the Do More Ag Foundation
While running their last venture, Farm At Hand, Kim Keller and business partner Himanshu Singh started a mental health initiative called “Here for Farmers,” a t-shirt fundraising campaign focused on supporting mental wellness in the agriculture community. Outside of the campaign, however, the calls kept coming in, asking for help finding mental health resources in… Read more »
Think transition, not succession
Despite armies of well-meaning accountants, bankers and consultants urging them to do so, many Canadian farm families don’t have a plan in place to transfer ownership between generations. It could be the word succession that’s getting in the way. This can imply an abrupt change, when the older generation is booted out to pasture and… Read more »
Alberta offers free resources for crop planning and profitability analysis
If drought concerns, disease pressure, or low commodity prices have you scratching your head on crop rotation tweaks, Alberta farmers have access to two, free crop planning and profitability programs offered by the provincial agriculture department. The first program, Crop Choice$, allows farmers to input their own costs and yield expectations, and is also fully… Read more »
Want a profitable farm? Never stop learning
Just like highly successful people share several traits, highly profitable farms share consistent attributes. Regardless of farm type or geography, there are farmer traits and business management practices common to profitable farms. “The number one practice driving farm profitability is lifelong learning and your commitment to building your skills,” says Heather Watson, executive director of… Read more »
The farming problems the shared economy can solve
We live in an age of disruption. Middle man getting in the way? Just work around them. Whether it’s ride-sharing such as Uber, house rentals via Air BnB, or crowdfunding to make something happen, several established industries are in the midst of a I-can-do-it-myself revolution. For highly competitive, highly regulated industries, such as taxis and… Read more »
GreenON Agriculture program helps farmers reduce carbon footprint
Ontario farmers have a new cost-share program to help them reduce their carbon footprint and become more energy efficient. The GreenON Agriculture program, recently announced by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, is specifically aimed at producers of agricultural commodities in permanent, climate-controlled buildings. The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association will administer the… Read more »
Competing on more than price for rented land
Ontario’s soils are losing organic matter. What builds organic matter? Perennial and forage species! But if you’re going to plant perennial hay or pasture, you have to have something to feed it to or you won’t be farming long enough to see the value of the added organic matter. And that’s a slight problem, as… Read more »