A female farmer in a cattle barn using a tablet

A guide to farm financial ratios

Long lists of available financial ratios can be overwhelming. Here are three financial ratios that matter to bankers and how understanding them can strengthen your farm’s financial future

Reading Time: 7 minutes Some farm managers love to spend the winter poring over their financial statements and analyzing all ratios and indicators and how they’ve changed over time.  Others would rather be outside working with cattle or at conferences learning the latest disease management techniques.  If you’re not in the first category, your banker might know more about […] Read more

Young farmer talking with her financial advisor

Shifting tides bring change to agriculture 

Summer Series: Will short-term pain cause long-term gain for Canada’s ag industry?

Reading Time: 4 minutes Warren Buffet once said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”  Well, the tide is going out in primary producer agriculture. Who will be left with clothes on? Is the shifting tide due to the highest cost of production ever? The changing policy discussions? The geopolitical factors that come […] Read more


Leading farmers should understand how to get the most from their farm advisors.

Summer Series: Bank on growth

[Better Advice] Ideas that performance-minded farmers can take to the bank

Reading Time: 5 minutes Even top-performing farmers need advice. In fact, when farmers fine-tune their operations to maximize yield and profitability, they can plan on needing more financial advice than ever before. This is for some very good reasons. Not only do risks grow with the scale and complexity of the operation, but so do the opportunities, and today’s […] Read more

Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus at Istanbul on Dec. 11, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Yoruk Isik)

Russia rejects bank compromise as Black Sea grain deal expiry looms

Collapse of deal could aggravate global food crisis

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Russia on Tuesday restated a demand for its state agricultural bank to be reconnected to the global SWIFT payments system to avert the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal, and said it would not accept a reported compromise proposal. With 13 days remaining until the expiry of the deal, which has allowed […] Read more


Liberia-flagged bulker K Sukret, carrying grain under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, waits for inspection in the southern anchorage of Istanbul on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Mehmet Emin Caliskan)

EU seen weighing concession to Russian bank over Black Sea deal

New arm of ag bank could connect to SWIFT

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — The European Union is considering a proposal for the Russian Agricultural Bank to set up a subsidiary to reconnect to the global financial network as a sop to Moscow, the Financial Times said on Monday. With the bank under sanctions, the move aims to safeguard the Black Sea grain deal that allows Ukraine […] Read more

CBOT May 2023 soft red winter wheat with 20-day moving average, MGEX May 2023 hard red spring wheat (orange open/high/low/close) and K.C. May 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange O/H/L/C). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat slightly rebounds; corn, soy dip

Market volatility over banking sector hits grains prices

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago grains see-sawed on Monday, piggybacking on U.S. stocks that were spooked by global economic concerns after the tech-focused lender Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. The most-active corn and soybean contracts closed weaker, while wheat rebounded slightly after finishing last week at a 20-month low. Grains prices gyrated throughout the day as […] Read more