In an era of "cheap" money, farms could take advantage to solve working capital shortages, set aside savings, or plan for a business transition. But debt restructuring, or taking on more debt even at low rates, is not without its pitfalls. For this episode of the Mind Your Farm Business podcast, Terry Betker, president, and... Read More
Category: Farm Management
What would the Conservative Party of Canada do with AgriStability and other business risk programs? Does this current Liberal government understand agriculture at all? What can farmers expect to change when the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement comes into effect July 1? If the answers to any of those questions interest you, check out this RealAg LIVE! segment... Read More
Statistics Canada released its 2019 farm income and debt report this week, and it showed that realized net income of Canadian agricultural producers rose for the first time in three years. Net income was up 10.4 per cent to $4.9 billion in 2019, but as J.P. Gervais, chief economist of Farm Credit Canada (FCC) points... Read More
Not only is there a wide gap between internet speeds in rural versus urban parts of Canada, but the gap has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to data shared by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). In the month of April, the median download speed for rural Canadians was 3.78 Mbps, compared with... Read More
The federal government has committed to investing up to $9.2 million to fund up to 700 new positions for young people in the agriculture industry through its Youth Employment and Skills Program. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau made the announcement on Tuesday. "During this unprecedented time, our food producers are working hard to feed Canada, while... Read More
Which crop has the biggest price upside? Where will canola acres land? Do I really need to know my cost of production? Brian Voth, transplanted Manitoban and president of IntelliFarm Inc., is our latest RealAg LIVE! guest, and he fielded all sorts of questions. (Check out the full video/discussion below) Let's start with canola! And... Read More
Markus Haerle, chair of the Grain Farmers of Ontario, says the producer group's recent social media and radio campaign is aimed at getting the federal government's attention and at pushing Ottawa to quit stalling on making improvements to business risk management tools, so that these programs can address shortfalls and challenges in the industry. Reaction... Read More
The federal government is tweaking the eligibility criteria to help more businesses access the $40,000 interest-free Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA) loan. Unrolled earlier this spring as part of its COVID-19 relief measures, the government says up to $10,000 of the loan will be forgiven if the rest of the principle is repaid by the... Read More
Farm Management Canada, in conjunction with the Wilton Consulting Group, has released a comprehensive report looking at not only stress and mental wellness within the farming sector, but also the impact mental health has on the business side of farming. In the report entitled Healthy Minds Healthy Farms, most farmers reported "undesirable coping mechanisms that... Read More
The Canadian government has opened up the application process for a pilot program to give temporary foreign workers who work in year-round roles in the agriculture industry a pathway to permanent residency. The three-year Agri-Food Immigration Pilot program, originally announced in July 2019, is aimed at helping employers in meat processing, mushroom and greenhouse production,... Read More