Reading Time: 6 minutes The number gap is stark. In fact, it’s hard to think where you’d find one that’s wider: 88 per cent of farmers who have a written business plan say their plan has so many benefits (both to the farm and to themselves as farmers) that it more than pays for itself. Yet only 21 per […] Read more
Pandemic planning: Write it down, add it up
It's the big lesson of 2020. A business plan is practically guaranteed to up your game, make you more money, and keep you happier and healthier. So what are you doing this winter?
Pandemic planning: Groundwork
What will Canada's food system look like as we roll toward 2021? And how will you be able to build on those changes to make the family farm more resilient, more sustainable, and a better business?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Resilience has two halves. The part that automatically comes to mind is the way a truly resilient business can take a punch without shutting down. It can survive a bout of bad weather, bad markets, a black swan. But there’s something else too. It isn’t just that a resilient farm keeps breathing. It’s that a […] Read more
Insurance customers’ contact info dropped into MASC email
Crown crop insurance agency warns of privacy breach
Reading Time: < 1 minute A contact list of crop insurance customers at Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. has gone out via email to several dozen of the Crown ag insurance agency’s customers. MASC on Monday said a file containing names and contact information of an unspecified number of AgriInsurance clients was “attached in error” to an email sent last Tuesday […] Read more
Bigger sunflower crop expected for 2020
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canada will likely see its largest sunflower crop in a number of years in 2020 if weather conditions co-operate, as good end-user demand and solid returns for growers generate increased interest in the crop. Canadian farmers intend to seed 104,400 acres of sunflowers this spring, which would be up 36 per cent on […] Read more
Strong demand supports sunflowers
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Global demand for sunflower oil is steadily increasing, according to Scoular’s Robert Deraas. Deraas, director of the Scoular Co.’s sunflower and bird food division, explained Wednesday at CropConnect in Winnipeg that the majority of Canadian sunflowers are grown for oil purposes. Increases in demand are driven largely by health-conscious consumers who use sunflower […] Read more
Manitoba growers approve five-way commodity group merger
Reading Time: < 1 minute Manitoba grain growers represented by five separate commodity organizations have voted to greenlight a merger they now expect to make official by August. A total of 165 ballots were cast Wednesday and Thursday during the groups’ annual general and special meetings at the CropConnect conference in Winnipeg, with members at the various events voting between […] Read more
Manitoba’s sunflower crop under threat from weather
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Manitoba’s sunflower crop has been compromised by the snow that fell over Thanksgiving weekend, but it’s not yet clear what percentage of the crop will be impacted. Before the snow fell, windy and rainy weather took a toll on the sunflower crop. The soil was oversaturated to the point that sunflower roots couldn’t […] Read more
Most oilseed estimates down in USDA’s October outlook
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its monthly oil crops outlook on Tuesday featuring reductions in global rapeseed and sunflower production and U.S. soybeans. USDA estimated global rapeseed production at 68.6 million tonnes, a decline of one million, with the lion’s share of the losses in Canada. Canadian production for 2019-20 was […] Read more
Tim Hortons retreats from Beyond
Reading Time: 2 minutes Tim Hortons is dialing back its Beyond Meat marketing in Canada and will keep the plant-based meat substitute on its sandwich menus in Ontario and British Columbia alone. The coffee-and-donut chain, an arm of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International and Canada’s biggest fast-food chain by number of outlets, first test-marketed breakfast sandwiches with the U.S. company’s […] Read more
Manitoba sunflowers not calling it quits just yet
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Manitoba farmers may have seeded the smallest sunflower acres in eight years this spring, but the crop is in reasonably good shape heading into the harvest later in the fall. “I do expect to see better crops this year than last year,” said Cody Burton, purchasing manager with Nestibo Agra at Deloraine, Man. […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
