Reading Time: < 1 minute Sao Paulo | Reuters – Brazilian meat company Minerva SA plans an initial public offering in Santiago of its units outside Brazil as a way to reduce its debt, according to a securities filing on Tuesday. After a capital increase at its Chilean subsidiary Athena Food, Minerva said it will gather its operations in Paraguay, Uruguay […] Read more
Brazil meat company Minerva plans IPO by Chilean unit
Seamless transfers
This family farm corporation in Ontario has transferred four times since the ’60s and recently diversified with the purchase of a local grain elevator. Here’s how the VanSickles have done it, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way
Reading Time: 6 minutes Near the Grand River south of Brantford, Shawn VanSickle pulls under the shade of a big oak tree at the end of the field. He stops for a moment to reflect about how in 1966 his grandfather did something groundbreaking for the time — incorporated the family farm. Five decades later, G.H. VanSickle & Sons […] Read more
Low loonie not good for farmers right now
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Usually when the Canadian dollar starts to drop lower than its U.S. counterpart it’s good for producers — but this time not so much. Along with the drop, commodity prices have also dropped. “Unfortunately I’m not so sure that what we’ve seen in terms of a decline in the Canadian dollar versus […] Read more
Why don’t we know?
Whether you were in favour of changing the CWB or against it, isn’t it time we get clear, unbiased answers about what the impact has been?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Ask any western grain farmer what is significant about August 1, 2012, and most will tell you it was the day the federal government eliminated the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly on the sale and export of wheat and barley from Western Canada. Some farmers will refer to it as the “grain marketing freedom day.” Others […] Read more
The Allis G tractor roars back to life
Ohio company sees a new opportunity for a very old design
Reading Time: 5 minutes The unique design of the vintage Allis-Chalmers model G tractor (or implement carrier, as it could be more accurately described) makes it one of the most identifiable machines at any antique tractor show. It was manufactured from 1948 to 1955. And as Lydell Steiner, project lead on the Tilmor tractor project, sees it, it may […] Read more
Farm input pricing available in Canada, if you dig for it
Alberta, Ontario producers have better access to information
Reading Time: 5 minutes CNS Canada – When putting a crop in, costs can add up fast. Seed, chemicals, fertilizer are all expenses which vary year to year and it isn’t always easy to know if the price producers are paying is the best price. Producers can spend their time calling and visiting different retailers shopping around for the […] Read more
Prepping the kids for the financial reality of farm ownership
It may be the biggest question of all. When is the right time to give the kids a voice in business planning?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Now that summer’s on the doorstep, the kids are home from school, and your planning and preparation for the growing season are over, it’s an ideal time to have some important conversations with your family members around succession planning. As anyone who has gone through the process knows, succession planning within the family can be […] Read more
Out-competed
Again, the Australians are showing us how we’d market our crops if we had our act together
Reading Time: 7 minutes Is the Canadian grains sector being out-marketed globally? This is a question that has nagged me since February 16, the date the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre released new information brochures for Australian wheat, barley, oats, canola and pulses. “These publications are aimed at international purchasers of Australian grain,” the association (AEGIC) said in its […] Read more
Between spouses
Formalizing the informal partnership
Reading Time: 3 minutes Joint ownership between spouses has been a long-standing fixture in the farming community, with each holding equal influence when it comes to making key business decisions. It is widely acknowledged and recognized that spouses are key influencers in business decisions. They have always stood front and centre in financial negotiations, are equal participants in professional […] Read more
What’s next for Massey Ferguson?
AGCO injects new life into the MF brand in Europe, promising to add “an avalanche” of new products in bright red paint
Reading Time: 8 minutes The attitude of marketing staff and the overall experience of just being at AGCO’s giant display at Agritechnica this year was different than I’d seen in past years. The stand was clearly divided between the company’s two primary brands sold in Europe: Massey Ferguson and Fendt. Then, an incident really drove home the reality of […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
