Reading Time: < 1 minute Ontario Federation of Agriculture President Keith Currie talks about why the OFA is putting more emphasis on distributed economic development. Read more: OFA pre-election policy targets broader economic development
VIDEO: OFA puts more focus on rural economic development
Benchmarking, grading, research needed to move lamb sector forward
Reading Time: 4 minutes Like a doctor delivering bad news to a patient, Martin Gooch gave it straight to the Ontario sheep sector: the sheep industry continues to be disjointed and inefficient, with a lack of benchmarks to define a successful farm. Like a good doctor, Gooch also delivered some optimism. “You could double production and have room for […] Read more
Ferrero looks to Ontario to crack Turkish grip on hazelnuts
Reading Time: 3 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters – Chocolate makers’ dependence on hazelnuts from a single major producer, Turkey, has sent Italy’s Ferrero searching for new suppliers to satisfy consumer cravings, from Eastern Canada to Chile and Australia.The farmer recruitment efforts of Ferrero, one of the world’s biggest hazelnut buyers for its Nutella spread and Ferrero Rocher chocolates, may […] Read more
Short-liners get aggressive
We sit down with Leah Olson, president of Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada, to take the pulse of today’s Canadian short-line equipment manufacturers
Reading Time: 5 minutes In past years, as the calendar began leading up to summer, my email inbox would fill with press releases from short-line ag equipment manufacturers hungry to show off their their new models and boost sales. This year, however, was quiet. There just weren’t as many announcements as I’d come to expect. Yes, there have been […] Read more
Farm debt in perspective
Yes, $90 billion in farm debt is a lot, but most farmers should be able to weather most storms if they up their focus on their risk exposure
Reading Time: 9 minutes When Gwen Paddock began her finance career some three decades ago, farmers were looking for a chequing account, an operating loan and maybe some short-term financing for equipment and land. Not so today. “Farms are getting bigger with more moving parts,” says RBC’s national director of agriculture. “Now, farmers and farm operators are looking for […] Read more
Using futures and options in uncertain times
AME Management: Every year has its unique events, but with this strategy, farmers can provide profit opportunities that an “ordinary” year simply wouldn’t make available
Reading Time: 4 minutes Already, 2017 has been a year of uncertainty due both to unpredictable weather and political patterns. (We won’t speculate on which is the less predictable!) Uncertainty breeds large amounts of price volatility. Many farmers argue that using futures and options is too hard and carries the risk of cash-flow drains. They prefer to use the […] Read more
Farm groups want modernized NAFTA
Farm groups from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are calling for key reforms
Reading Time: 3 minutes NAFTA should be modernized through five significant reforms rather than dismantled, say national farm organizations from Canada, the United States and Mexico. Agriculture represents one of NAFTA’s biggest success stories, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the American Farm Bureau and Consejo Nacional Agropecuario said in a joint letter to the leaders of the three countries. […] Read more
Should you buy a combine, or stay with custom?
The decision depends on how much you lose to spoilage, so you need to think like a grocery store produce manager
Reading Time: 8 minutes Sue and Jim have increased their grain and oilseed operation to 4,500 acres. Until now they’ve hired a custom combine operator, but he’s retiring. Originally they had hired him as a means of economizing investment, but now they are more financially secure. They already have swathing and hauling equipment, and wonder if they should buy […] Read more
A co-trustee’s responsibility
Guide Legal: If asked to serve as a co-trustee, be aware that acting as a rubber stamp will not protect you if things go wrong
Reading Time: 4 minutes When drafting a will, parents often name more than one of their children as the trustees of their estate. Given the dynamics between siblings, it is not uncommon for one child to take on a more active role than another in administering the estate. However, in a recent decision, the Court of Appeal for Ontario […] Read more
Africa feeding Africa
While North America’s farmers pin their career hopes on the need to feed a hungry Africa, that continent’s farmers are making plans of their own
Reading Time: 5 minutes A core belief in North American agriculture is that our farmers must produce ever more food if we are to have any hope of feeding the world, particularly areas like Africa where the population is growing so rapidly. The numbers are indeed staggering. According to the Population Reference Bureau, Africa’s population will hit 2.5 billion […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
