The loonie has been on a real run lately, or the U.S. dollar has been in a real slump depending on how you look at it. While the rise of our dollar may have positive implications for Canadian consumers shopping in the U.S., the impact of a strong loonie on Canadian exporters is another story.... Read More
Category: Economy & Financial Markets
If you are interested in politics and economics like I am there is no more interesting fodder every night on the television than in the United States. I love debates and conflict on topics and the US has no shortage of them right now. Whether you are right, left or moderate you cannot deny the... Read More
By Dick Haney At the risk of sounding like the Saturday Night Live character Debbie Downer, there is a potential evil that lurks among us; it is how we leverage equity in our operations to buy more agricultural farm land. I think it would be useful to examine the similarities between Las Vegas and financial... Read More
As an exporting nation, Canada has a history of relying on a low currency. Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past four years, the Canadian dollar no longer enjoys this low value luxury. Many producers who export are very concerned about the value of the Canadian dollar and some of the... Read More
There and many different reasons for a company to want to make the "big deal." Some are looking for efficiency, some strive for an increase in scope, and others just see the value at certain levels. Lately the agri-business sector is under intense media coverage with the running and gunning in the marketplace by company's... Read More
One of the huge perks of this job is my ability to meet and interact with cool interesting people from across the country. I have had a chance to hear Jeffrey Simpson speak twice this summer. Jeffrey is the national affairs columnist at the Globe and Mail and also has received the Order of Canada... Read More
You cannot turn the TV on most nights during the nightly news without hearing some sort of commentary on the state of the Canadian economy. Agriculture is very reliant on the health of the consumer. Farmers are trying to decipher job reports, GDP growth, interest rates, CPI and a dozen other economic indicators. One of... Read More
Our family seed business, Haney Farms, held two plot tours this week which really gave me an opportunity to talk to a great cross section of farmers. One of the concerns that always comes up is the discussion about rising interest rates. Canadian farms are significantly levered even in comparison to our US neighbours. With... Read More
Last night I met a man whose family is heavily involved in agriculture but he did not grow up in the business so to speak. Recently after a successful career in another industry he decided to take a position within the family business in a senior management role. His comments about the industry were so... Read More
The Canadian Dollar is known as a commodity currency but as of late the European Union financial situation is playing havoc with the Canadian currency. Many feedyard and cattle ranchers are really getting stressed out by how violently the dollar has moved in the recent months. As we have mentioned before on this website, it... Read More