Which questions do you ask potential new hires? Where to you find your next star farm employee? Is the employee handbook up to date? If you laughed and thought, we don’t even HAVE an employee handbook, this podcast episode is for you. In this Mind Your Farm Business episode, host Shaun Haney takes us on… Read more »
Category: Farm Management
Farmland value increase in 2017 “a bit surprising”: FCC economist
After trending lower over the last four years, the rate of appreciation in farmland values regained momentum in 2017, based on Farm Credit Canada’s annual farmland values report. After rising by 7.9 percent in 2016, FCC says the national average increased by 8.4 percent in 2017. “I have to say I was a little bit… Read more »
American dairy farmers face large financial hurdles and doubts about their future
When you cross the Canada/U.S. border headed south, the landscape is the same, the time zone is the same, but the economics of dairy are very different. Canadians in agriculture are familiar with our domestic supply management system that aims to match supply of dairy products to demand. This control of supply through a quota… Read more »
Canadian farmland values rose by 8.4 percent in 2017: FCC report
Farmland values across Canada continued their climb in 2017, rising by a national average of 8.4 percent, according to Farm Credit Canada’s annual farmland values report. Saskatchewan saw the largest increase, at 10.2 per cent, followed by Nova Scotia at 9.5 per cent, Ontario at 9.4 per cent, Quebec at 8.2 per cent, and Alberta at… Read more »
AMI evolves program offerings under Canadian Agricultural Partnership
The Agri-Food Management Institute (AMI) has announced plans to deliver a mixture of established and new farm management programming under the newly launched Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Existing AMI initiatives, including the Advanced Farm Management Program, Transition Smart, and the Learning Roadshow, will continue under the new five-year federal-provincial ag funding framework. AMI plans to launch… Read more »
Canadian Agricultural Partnership: Ontario details and deadlines you need to know
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 »
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 »