When agricultural commodity prices rise there are expected effects. Costs like fertilizer prices and machinery costs are always natural to rise in a rising commodity market. One of the costs that has not been discussed much is rising farmland rent costs. Ontario has some of the highest land rent rates in Canada for the major… Read More

Farmers are great at growing crops and raising livestock but I don’t know many that really like to crunch the numbers.  I feel that farmers are naturally entrepreneurial and tend to keep the farm financial plan in their head.  For many farmers this works but it can result in some surprises from time to time…. Read More

In the short term the financial picture for agriculture looks very good.  Both farmers and livestock producers are very excited about the possibilities in 2011.  With profit comes bullish behaviours of expansion and growth.  In different areas of Western Canada there has been some reports of very steamy land rental rates based on the prices… Read More

Creating a business plan and making sure you execute the plan is a very big challenge for farmers. In fact it is a great challenge for all business owners. Agriculture can even be tougher because of the underlying industry foundation of the “agricultural lifestyle.”  Added on top of this is the increased amount of un-controllables… Read More

By Dick Haney As we started out the New Year, there were at least in my family the obligatory college football games to be viewed on January 1st. These games are part sport, part pageant and in many instances the most visual expression of loyalty that we will probably see all year. The stands are… Read More

The Succession Saga – Part Four By Dick Haney, Haney Farms We heard this weekend how yet another of our brave soldiers in Afghanistan had perished in the line of duty. This is never happy news and it is most unhappy at Christmas time and all of our thoughts and prayers go out to this… Read More