“Projects like this are essential as we work together to lower greenhouse gas emissions and build a stronger, more resilient agriculture sector for Canadians,” said Heath MacDonald, federal minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in a news release.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced April 7 that Anodyne Chemistries Inc. will receive up to$1,236,310 through Ottawa’s AgriScience Program – Projects Component under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Anodyne describes itself as a Canadian chemical startup on its website. It plans to use the funds to develop a bio-electric process to convert carbon dioxide and water into hydrogen peroxide and formic acid.

Hydrogen peroxide disinfects and sanitizes equipment, while formic acid’s uses include as a preservative for animal feed.

The processes to make these products would reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as the ag sector’s reliance on petrochemical feedstocks.

“We’re proud to work alongside AAFC to build the foundation for a domestic, decarbonized agrichemical supply chain in Canada,” said Anodyne chief executive Iain Evans.

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The federal government announced up to $94.5 million in funding for the 14 groups over five years through the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program.

The funds are intended to assist 14 organizations develop informational products and employer toolkits to help workers and businesses adapt to current labour market challenges, a federal news release said.

These tools include forecast reports, dashboards on topics like job vacancies by key occupations, and sector-specific growth opportunities.

These are intended to offer job seekers, workers, employers and training providers a detailed view of the challenges and needs within each sector.

The aim is to ultimately help reduce skills shortages, improve job readiness, and support long-term growth across multiple industries, the federal government said.

Other organizations funded represent the energy, construction, trucking, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, tourism, forestry, mining, information and communications technology, the environment and the bio-economy sectors.

These sectors account for 66.2 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product and employ about 9.9 million workers, the news release said.

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So, I’m surprised that future farmland values aren’t discussed more between farmers and lenders. The reason is likely because these values are speculative. Lenders deal with enough risk; they need to bank on what certainty they can.

And anyone who knows for sure what farmland values will do should have moved to Vegas a long time ago.

A farm that can service its debt and show healthy farmland asset appreciation is attractive to a lender. Remove one of those two variables and you begin to see the banker’s dilemma. For example, perhaps a farm can service debt but lacks sufficient farmland equity as security. Or the operation shows a healthy net worth on paper but can’t cover its loan payments in the current environment.

I first noticed that nobody was putting down payments on farmland when I worked in public accounting in Saskatchewan. All farmland deals were 100 per cent financed.

Forget the standard 20 per cent down on home mortgages; it was rare to see any down payment on farmland at all. The reason is that many of the operations purchasing farmland have grain in their bins and are already carrying operating debt balances.

Instead, financial institutions would lend against an ever-increasing equity base while ensuring adequate working capital and debt servicing capabilities were in place.

And, no, Chinese investors aren’t driving up the price of farmland. The drivers of farmland price appreciation are still farmers. Farmers reinvest “good times” profit in more farmland.

I’ve also noticed that after selling their farm some people will turn around and buy other farmland. They often do this to offset capital gains. It’s an asset class they know, and which has a good recent track record of returns.

According to the Historic Farm Credit Canada Farmland Values Report 1986-2024, Canadian farmland has averaged an 8.3 per cent annual return over the past 30 years.

Some say the run can’t go on forever, and yet we’ve been hearing that for the past 15 years.

Yes, you can farm without owning land, but it’s my opinion that farmers should own at least some of their land to build wealth and to have some equity if they need to refinance when times get tough. If farmers keep buying, we’re likely to continue to see positive appreciation.

Positive appreciation

If you expect farmland appreciation to continue, you are likely trying to buy as much farmland as possible. You may also be expecting future drops in interest rates, which will make debt servicing less expensive and make it easier to qualify for additional credit.

You may believe the uses of farmland for food, feed, fibre and fuel will continue to grow. You may be particularly bullish on biofuel policy.

But what happens when farmers quit buying?

Farmland depreciation

If you expect farmland to flatline or depreciate in the near term you may be considering selling your farm. You certainly aren’t looking to buy. You likely also expect interest rates to go up.

You may expect the combination of government policy, including trade risks, to be a bearish factor.

You might believe competition from Australia, Russia and South America will further pressure commodity prices.

You might also believe that government financial support will decline. Currently, the Canadian government guarantees $1.5 million for a house purchase through the Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation but only $500,000 for a purchase towards farmland through the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act.

What does the future hold?

What will Canadian farmland ownership look like in 10 years?

If we assume the average appreciation rate from the past 30 years, it will be more expensive. A piece of farmland worth $1 million today will be worth almost $1.5 million in 10 years’ time using an annual appreciation rate of four per cent.

At three per cent annual farmland appreciation, you will double your farmland investment over 24 years.

If the Bank of Canada is targeting inflation in the two to three per cent range, will farmland values rise at the minimum rate as well? Not necessarily. Farmland prices are mostly driven by farmers. If farmers see a path to produce positive financial returns, then demand and values will continue to rise. However, if farmers see a future where the financial environment, government policies and weather risks aren’t worth the reward, then we can expect farmland values to depreciate or flatline. CG

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“Dan is a high-integrity, visionary executive with more than 30 years of leadership experience across the Canadian seed sector and the broader North American agriculture industry,” said Brent Collins, President of Seeds Canada in a LinkedIn post announcing the move.

Wright most recently worked at Syngenta as head of the company’s North American Enogen and Canada Seed divisions. He previously held senior roles at Monsanto and Bayer, and brings extensive association experience, having served seven years on the Canadian Seed Trade Association Board, including as president (2017–2018).

Experience spanning both multinationals and family-owned seed businesses makes Wright uniquely positioned to unite stakeholders and advance the priorities of Canada’s seed industry, said Collins.

“It is an honor to join Seeds Canada as CEO,” said Wright in the post, adding “having witnessed the incredible value of industry associations throughout my life, I am excited by the opportunity Seeds Canada and its members and clients have to continue to deliver value through innovation to Canadian farmers, ensuring they remain competitive globally.”

To help ensure a smooth transition, Wright will have the opportunity to spend some time with outgoing CEO Barry Senft before his departure at the end of January 2026.

Seeds Canada represents seed growers, analysts, breeders, distributors, processors, retailers, service providers and all stakeholders along the seed value chain in Canada. Its mandate is to support the growth of the seed sector in Canada and worldwide, focusing on plant breeding innovation, seed regulatory modernization, international trade, value creation and plant breeders’ rights.

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Beth Martel grew up in Wales, U.K., and moved with her family to Manitoba in 2001, where they purchased a mixed cattle operation. After studying agribusiness at Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, she moved to St. Leon where she now farms with her husband, Pierre. She also runs an agronomy business, FM Agronomy, that provides variable rate prescriptions, soil sampling and crop scouting to growers in south central Manitoba.

Country Guide: Why did you decide on a career in the agriculture industry?

Beth Martel: Growing up in Wales, you’d find me at the local cattle market, horse riding or playing in the dirt. I have always been drawn to agriculture, and after working in the variable rate field, I enjoyed doing what I was doing. So, when the opportunity came to be an independent agronomist, I took it. I also have three young children, so I knew I wanted my own business to give me the flexibility I need to switch roles when I need to.

CG: What is your perception of the Canadian ag industry today? What excites you about it?

BM: The agriculture industry is always growing. I love that the industry is like a big family; you make a lot of friends with the people you meet along the way and those people stay with you for years. 

CG: What expectations did you have coming into the industry and how do they compare with your actual experience? As a young person coming into the ag industry, have you found it difficult to earn people’s trust and confidence, to show that you know what you are doing?

BM: Being a woman in agriculture is completely different than just being in agriculture because people are pretty much going to trust what a man says over a woman because men have been in the industry, in all the different roles, for a lot longer. 

But whoever you are, getting growers trust doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a while to build someone’s confidence in you. My approach is that if I don’t know the answer, I am going to be honest with them that I don’t know and go back and find the answers using my resources. 

CG: What are your personal career goals and what new ideas and fresh approaches do you have to help benefit agriculture?

BM: I am not a huge business. I am on my own, so I focus on giving that one-on-one attention to every grower that I have. I hope I can grow my business, although I still want to always maintain that one-on-one connection. I think that relationships are still very important in agriculture. 

CG: How do you feel about the future of the ag industry?

BM: I think that the technology side of things will be helpful in the future, but it’s not going to replace people or their relationships. I know that there have been some things tried with artificial intelligence, but most farmers don’t want that. They want people to be in the field. They are not prepared to rely one hundred percent on computers and technology.

CG: If one day your children came to you and said they were considering a career in ag, what area of the industry would you encourage them to look at? Where do you see the best opportunities?

BM: Be open to your opportunities! Use the tools that are provided to help you. Take those marketing courses, take the knowledge, take the basics! As a woman in ag it was a challenge to get where I am today. For my daughter, if she wants to proceed with agriculture, I will tell her to never give up. Set your mind on what you want and go for it!

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In a letter to three federal ministers – Kody Blois (agriculture), Dominic LeBlanc (trade) and Francois-Phillipe Champagne (finance) — the CFIB pointed to the economic damages to Canada’s agriculture industry from the EV policies.

“Given the importance of agro-industries to Canada’s economy, we recommend government conduct a reassessment of its EV subsidies and tariff policies to mitigate unintended consequences for SME (small and medium enterprises),” the letter says.

“While Canada’s tariffs on Chinese EVs are intended to support the development of the domestic EV industry, it is worth questioning whether continuing to subsidize multinational corporations is the right path forward.”

The CFIB represents about 100,000 small and medium sized businesses, including 5,200 in the agriculture sector. It highlighted the threat of Chinese tariffs in an April 23 news release, five days before the federal election.

In March, China announced 100 per cent tariffs on canola oil, meal and pea imports from Canada, and 25 per cent tariffs on pork and some seafood products.

The move was expected because the Chinese government was frustrated with Canada’s tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, which were announced in 2024.

Farm groups criticize tariffs

Several farm groups have criticized the federal government for sacrificing the agriculture industry by protecting Canada’s electric vehicle and battery sectors from imports.

“We can’t keep being collateral damage in a trade war we didn’t start,” said the Wheat Growers Association in March.

“We need to end EV tariffs on China and force a solution to China’s unfair tariffs on canola. Canadian farmers and businesses deserve better.”

The CFIB is now adding its voice to the conversation, saying the federal and provincial subsidies for batteries and EV manufacturing are going to large corporations.

“In fact, over $62 billion has been pledged to several major automakers,” the CFIB letter says.

“However, some of these companies are now pausing their plans, raising questions about the need for such a policy, as well as the timing and long-term benefit of this subsidy strategy.”

Chinese tariffs hurting businesses bottom line

In April, the CFIB polled its members to gauge the impact of the Chinese tariffs and possible solutions to the trade chaos of 2025.

Around 35 per cent of agricultural businesses said the Chinese tariffs are hurting their bottom line.

Resolving the trade disputes and developing other markets for agri-food products is critical, but CFIB members are also worried about the challenges of doing business in Canada.

About 80 per cent of agri-businesses want the government to reduce regulatory costs and 79 per cent want the feds to cut taxes.

“The government needs to turn its focus to supporting the agriculture industry and adopting policies to improve the business climate for Canada’s SMEs,” said Jasmin Guénette, CFIB vice-president of national affairs.

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However, that news belied pessimism on the state of ag tech at the recent Agri Tech Venture Forum in Toronto. The forum heard that the availability of capital for agriculture technology entrepreneurs has dried up significantly compared to the heady days of investment growth during the pandemic years.

David Kornacki, of the Canadian Venture Capital Association, reported that agribusiness had a record year in 2023, with $273 million invested in 50 deals.

That compares to a decline of 34 per cent last year in venture capital deals outside of agriculture and a 50 per cent decline the year before.

Kornacki says the declines in 2023 and 2022 are a return to normal.

“If we’re taking out the pandemic years, we still saw a an increase of investment in comparison to 2019,” he says.

The sentiment from venture capital investors at the forum wasn’t as optimistic.

“It’s been a challenging probably 18 months in terms of putting together deals, finding lead investors, finding significant partners,” said Jonathon Goodkey, of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).

Pitchbook, the industry go-to information source on investment deals, showed a decrease in North American agriculture venture capital investment in early 2024 compared to the high-spending times of 2021.

“I agree, it’s tough times,” says Louis Brown of Carrot Ventures.

Paige Addesi, of Yaletown, another venture capital company, however, said that some great businesses can be built in a downturn.

“This industry doesn’t just go away and founders building businesses at this point in time are quite resilient,” she says.

Concern about interest rates has been one of the biggest drivers of the decline in venture capital being spent, but the potential impact of increased taxation of capital gains passed in the recent federal government budget will also have a cooling impact on investment in Canada, says Kornacki.

Agriculture technology entrepreneurs have to work harder and will have to make sure they have an understanding of the company’s plan to develop and show a route to profit.

When ag tech founders find an investor, they will also find that the valuations put on companies aren’t as high as they were.

“We want our returns, and we don’t want to admit that we are worth less than we were two years ago,” says Artem Zemskov, who works for the Canadian office of the Radicle Growth fund.

Many valuations were high because the venture capital money was flowing freely and some people didn’t understand what they were paying for.

The venture capitalists on the panel at the forum agreed that there is a lot of money sitting in people’s accounts not being spent, and that will change at some point. For now, entrepreneurs will have to make sure they are more realistic about what to expect when looking for investors.

—John Greig is senior technology editor for Farmtario

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“P&H has been a great equity partner and a strong supporter of seed genetics in Canada, and we thank them for their many contributions to Alliance and the industry,” said Shane Paterson, director of trading and transportation at Paterson in a news release.

Winnipeg-based Alliance Seed began in 2009 as a joint venture between Paterson Grain (a division of Paterson GlobalFoods), Parrish and Heimbecker, Weyburn Inland Terminal of Weyburn, Sask.; North West Terminal (NWT) of Unity, Sask.; Prairie West Terminal of Plenty, Sask.; and Great Sandhills Terminal at Leader, Sask.

With the recent sale, North West Terminal and Paterson are the two remaining shareholders.

“The joint venture, established in 2009, has proven to be mutually beneficial, creating synergies
that have contributed to the success of all shareholders. P&H looks forward to continuing on as a
channel partner with Alliance.” said Anthony Kulbacki, president of P&H’s grain division.

Alliance operations will not change as a result of this transaction, the news release said.

—Geralyn Wichers is associate digital editor of AGCanada.com. She writes from southeastern Manitoba.

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Instead of cash, the attackers demanded the hog business owners publicly admit to what they alleged to be livestock mistreatment.

The occurrence was unique and alarming, says Ali Dehghantanha, Canada research chair in cybersecurity and threat intelligence at the University of Guelph’s Cyber Science Lab.

The lab offers a for-fee support service for those managing cyberattacks and cybersecurity.

NEW AUDIO SERIES: Cyber-Savvy Farmer

While the number of cybersecurity incidents across Ontario’s agriculture industry has been rapidly increasing overall, he says the cashless ransomware attack against the family hog business — an incident he and his colleagues helped the family resolve — highlights what could become a wider trend in the tactics used by special interest actors.

Why it matters: Ransomware and other criminal cyber activities usually come with demands for payment. Malicious actors focused on disrupting food production rather than money pose another, potentially harder-to-solve threat.

According to Dehghantanha, the attack perpetrators claimed to have a variety of incriminating evidence showing animal abuse on the farm. This included camera footage taken from what the perpetrators claimed was a now-compromised farm surveillance system. The attacker’s prerequisite for releasing their hold on the farm’s network was a public statement, from the business owners, admitting to animal abuse.

In Dehghantanha’s view, this would have been financially devastating for the business.

In reality, no such footage existed. Indeed, claims of comprised cameras were false. Barring the demand for self-incrimination, the attack proved to be a standard, easily manageable ransomware attack.

“This was the first time working in this specific industry we have seen ransomware not asking for money. That would make our job much more difficult as we are dealing with adversaries whose motivation is not money,” Dehghantanha says, adding the transfer of cash is often the riskiest part for those committing ransomware attacks, because the movement of funds can be tracked.

“Prior to this we were not concerned with these small family food businesses…There was not a playbook for these kinds of situations.”

More accessible ransomware

Dehghantanha says his lab has been engaged with 20 cybersecurity issues reported from southern Ontario in the first half of 2023 alone — up from a mere handful in the entirety of 2019. Awareness of cyber risk has likely played a role in higher reporting, but it’s also getting easier for bad actors to acquire harmful attack tools like ransomware.

Simultaneously, the agriculture and food sector are underprepared for such threats. Dehghantanha considers agriculture and food to lag other sectors, notably energy and health, by approximately five years. Remedying the problem would begin by establishing a committee or another body of industry representatives, technology experts, and others to design cybersecurity standards “rooted in the reality of the industry.”

“We must identify steps for farmers and businesses that can be gradually achieved to get to the same level. This has happened in energy and health sector so there’s no reason it can’t happen in agriculture sector,” says Dehghantanha.

“We need to identify a body responsible for receiving these standard reports from farmers trying to evaluate them and give feedback and work with them…If a farmer knows they are level two, level three, or whatever level they are, it would make it much easier for them to understand and improve.”

Awareness and practice

Stakeholders in the agriculture sector, such as Ontario Pork, say they are raising awareness about the ever-growing need for better cybersecurity.

In an email statement received July 12, Ken Ovington, general manager for Ontario Pork, says the commodity group “routinely meets with cybersecurity experts and researchers to gather knowledge that can be used to create awareness and provide informational tools that are valuable to pork producers and the provincial pork industry.

“These types of cyberattacks are undeniably on the rise. As technology usage increases, so does the methods and sophistication of cyber criminals so it’s crucial that producers, agricultural organizations and government continue to prioritize cybersecurity measures, stay vigilant, and collaborate to prevent future cyberattacks,” says Ovington.

Strategies used to prevent issues within the organization itself were listed as well, including cybersecurity training for employees. No comment on specific incidents, such as the ransomware attack on the family hog operation, was provided.

Dehghantanha himself encourages greater proactivity. While establishing standards would help the agriculture sector improve overall security – and, potentially, bring spinoff benefits like lower insurance rates for higher cybersecurity scores – he stresses individuals and organizations need to pay attention to the threat posed by cyber criminals focused on industry disruption over money.

“We don’t need to wait for a standard to work on awareness. If you have livestock, you could be on a target list.”

— Matt McIntosh is a southwestern Ontario freelance writer. This article previously appeared at Farmtario.com.

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U.S. President Joe Biden last May loosened restrictions on travel, remittances and migration, and promised the United States would do more to support the fledgling private sector in Cuba.

Change, however, has been too slow to come, said Paul Johnson, chair of the U.S. Agricultural Coalition for Cuba, a more-than-100-member organization that includes national and state farm organizations, corporations and producers.

“We’re losing, and we’re tired of losing,” Johnson told reporters on the sidelines of the gathering at a hotel in Havana.

The U.S. businesses are keen to both sell their own product to Cuba and to invest in private sector farms and cooperatives to help them develop.

Little has changed on the island since a similar group of would-be investors arrived last April. Many farms have been shuttered by lack of investment, equipment, fuel and supplies, leading to widespread shortages of food across Cuba.

“It’s frustrating to us in the United States, because we believe it’s something that we can fix. We need to go back to our government… and insist that the private sector is a path forward to development,” said Johnson.

Cuba, a long-time foe of the U.S., swapped capitalism for socialism shortly after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, preferring state over private enterprise.

But in August 2021, the communist-run government lifted a ban on private companies that had been in place since 1968. Upwards of 7,000 such businesses have opened since, according to an economy ministry list updated on March 23.

Canada, according to the federal Trade Commissioner Service, is Cuba’s second-largest source of direct investment, with “significant” stakes in mining, energy, agriculture and heavy equipment, as well as in tourism, with over one million Canadians visiting Cuba annually, pre-pandemic. Cuba is also Canada’s top market in the Caribbean/Central American sub-region.

Investors from countries including Mexico, Venezuela, Vietnam, China, Spain and Russia, among others, have also previously participated in state and private business in Cuba.

The United States remains an outlier. The U.S. Treasury Department last May authorized a company owned by entrepreneur John Kavulich to invest in a small private business in Cuba’s services sector, the first such approval in decades.

But many other similar requests remain unanswered, Johnson said.

“Obviously that’s just not good enough,” Johnson said. “We’re capitalists. We invest in private business all around the world. Why can’t we do it in Cuba?”

Despite the loosening of some restrictions, a Cold War-era U.S. embargo on Cuba remains in place, prohibiting some trade and financing between the two countries and complicating investment ties.

— Nelson Acosta is a Reuters correspondent in Havana. Includes files from Glacier FarmMedia Network staff.

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