RealAgriculture, the Canadian agriculture digital media leader, is launching a new audio series to assist producers in building their farm management skills. The 12-part series — Mind Your Farm Business — is sponsored by RBC Royal Bank, and new episodes will be released twice a month, beginning June 9th, 2015. Agriculture is not isolated from... Read More
Category: Farm Management
Does farm size matter when it comes to managing interest rate hikes? It does, says Greg Pate, economic policy analyst with Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, but not in the way you may think. Bernard Tobin spoke with Pate at a recent half-day farm finance conference held at Guelph, Ont., to talk... Read More
Statistics Canada shared its report on 2014 Canadian farm cash receipts last week. In laymen's terms, these numbers are an estimate of how Canadian farmers earned their income last year. (The cash receipt charts do not account for expenses or depreciation, so in no way do they reflect profit or net income.) Total farm cash... Read More
There was a time when it was hard for farmers to access credit — so much so that it spurred the creation of a farm credit corporation, now known as Farm Credit Canada. Those old enough to remember FCC’s creation are also old enough to recount the hardship that was farming in the early 1980s.... Read More
Yesterday, Ontario's legislature passed Bill 40 — Agriculture Insurance Act, 2015 — which will allow for more types of agricultural products to be covered by the province's production insurance program. Production insurance is part of the business risk management programs (RMP) designed to help farmers manage losses due to events beyond their control, such as... Read More
If you were impacted by extreme drought or moisture in 2014, there may be some good news coming your way, as the Government of Canada has finalized a list of regions eligible for tax deferral for 2014. The changes mean that eligible producers will be able to defer a portion of their income from sales... Read More
Cattle producers will have access to significantly higher borrowing limits under an enhanced Manitoba Livestock Associations Loan Guarantee (MLALG) program, according to Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development minster, Ron Kostyshyn. The borrowing limit for the MLALG program has increased to up to $8 million from $5 million for associations and up to $500,000 from... Read More
With all the excitement about data and new tools for recording farm production and operational activities, collecting the data is often the easy part. The challenge comes in turning the data and observations into simple, actionable information. Whether it's vehicle or equipment activity, irrigation tracking, soil test results, basic field records or the markets, the... Read More
The growing season is a busy one but once in a while some unexpected free time will bust its way into your itinerary. So what do you do? Like me, many of you likely struggle more with free time than with a full calendar of appointments or to do's. Here are some thoughts on some... Read More
Welcome to an occasional series here on Real Agriculture — where we ask three farmers or ranchers four questions about their business, production and next steps. This first column features three Ontario sheep producers (you'll have to ask them if they want to be called shepherds): Colleen Acres, of Maple Meadow Farms at Osgoode; Chris... Read More