It's no secret that the 2026 crop year is shaping up to be one where profitability is a major concern. The RealAgristudies Insights Panel indicated that 75 per cent see 2026 to be a riskier season than 2025. Getting through this kind of farming environment requires real farm financial survival skills. In January, Canadian farmers... Read More
Category: Farm Management
Canada’s agri-food sector is a global leader in trade, but when it comes to attracting growth capital, the numbers tell a different story. A new report by RBC Thought Leadership,"Seeding Scale: Addressing Canada’s agri-food growth capital gap," outlines the scope and scale of the disconnect between Canada's ag industry size and potential and the amount... Read More
Chris Scheetz, a longtime broadcaster and speaker from Thorsby, Alta., who has been named CCMA’s Personality of the Year five times over the course of his career, closed out the Crossroads Crop Conference in Edmonton, Alta., with a message rooted in small-town values and the enduring strength of the family farm. Speaking with RealAgriculture following... Read More
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has expanded AgriStability criteria to include pasture-related feed costs as an eligible expense for livestock producers. AgriStability is a business risk management program that protects Canadian producers against large declines in income due to production losses, cost increases, or market conditions. Heath MacDonald, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, announced Wednesday... Read More
After catching up with co-hosts Kristjan Hebert and Evan Shout on their recent travels and conversations, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Agriculture, David Marit, joins them on this episode of The Truth About Ag. In this episode, Marit reflects on his path from farming near Fife Lake to municipal politics, leadership within the rural municipalities association, and... Read More
There's no doubt farm profitability is really strained heading into the 2026 growing season, with stubborn variable- and fixed-cost structures and weak commodity prices. When margins are constricted, financials get squeezed, and it puts pressure on banking relationships. In January, eighty-two per cent of Canadian farmers surveyed through the Canadian Farmer Sentiment Index told RealAgristudies... Read More
Better management doesn’t just improve margins — it could reshape how Canada designs farm policy. In this episode of the Ag Policy Connection podcast, Tyler McCann and Elise Bigley of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute sit down with Terry Betker, founder of Backswath Management, to explore a deceptively simple but far-reaching idea: build a national... Read More
The Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB) is introducing a new financial incentive aimed at supporting producers who have achieved certification under its national sustainability standard. The CRSB Certified Producer Incentive will provide a $400 payment in 2026 to eligible beef producers who maintain active certification by June 30, 2026, or who were certified at... Read More
Farmers aged 45 to 50 experienced the highest number of grain farm injuries last year, according to the latest data from the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB), with those 50 and over close behind. Speaking at the CrossRoads Crop Conference at Edmonton, Alta., Jody Wacowich with AgSafe Alberta says she reviews the annual WCB report each... Read More
Farmers across Canada are facing a dizzying array of incentive programs aimed at promoting sustainable and regenerative agriculture. While tight crop margins are leading farms to consider new ways of adding value, the sheer volume of sustainability-type programs and incentives is creating a mix of confusion and administrative burden, says Shawn Catherwood of Spur Line... Read More