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The High Level Bridge in Lethbridge, Alta., is the longest and highest bridge of its type on Earth.
Features, Guide Business

Farming’s hottest boomtown

Guide Canada: Lethbridge has emerged as one of Canada’s hottest centres of farm and ag entrepreneurialism. How hot is that? Well, read on…

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Reading Time: 11 minutes Ask anyone what they think of when they think of Alberta, and the same handful of images always come to mind. Think Banff, Jasper and the rolling foothills for a start. Now, add Lethbridge, especially if you’re a farmer. Then think excitement. Young people might be fleeing other parts of rural Canada, but not here. […] Read more
(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)
Livestock, Markets, Reuters

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures down on big supplies, economic jitters

Surge in U.S. COVID-19 cases rattles Wall Street

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. cattle futures eased on Wednesday and hog futures were mostly lower on ample livestock supplies and concerns about rising coronavirus infections and their negative impact on the economy. Wall Street’s three major indexes tumbled on Wednesday and crude oil plunged more than five per cent as a surge in U.S. […] Read more
Yes, change is coming, but farmers like Brad Rasmussen are surprising the experts.
Guide Business

How healthy are mid-sized farms?

A decade ago, mid-size farms were on the endangered list. Today, most are thriving while they ponder what comes next

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Reading Time: 11 minutes From coffee shop to conference hall and from boardroom to classroom, it’s the question we keep asking — what’s the future of the mid-size farm? Even the 98 per cent of Canadians who haven’t been on a farm in a generation or two talk about it from time to time. It seems there’s a solid […] Read more
Green Party leader Elizabeth May walks off the set past moderator Paul Wells (l), Conservative leader Andrew Scheer and New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh after the Maclean’s/Citytv leaders’ debate in Toronto on Sept. 12, 2019. (Pool photo: Frank Gunn via Reuters)
General, Markets

Election 2019: Ag groups want the parties to pay attention

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Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Two major national farm organizations want the political parties to pay more attention to agriculture as the federal election continues. However, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) have somewhat different takes as to what they see as paramount. “It’s really important that we uphold the quality of […] Read more
Guide Business

Is it time to rethink your farm debt?

Debt has soared with farm income. For most farms, that’s good. But what about yours?

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Over the past decade, the consensus among Canada’s ag economists has been clear. Yes, farmers have accumulated more debt than ever. But the debt load is manageable. There’s no looming crisis. Now, however, with the prospect of a series of modest interest rate hikes, can we still be so complacent? First, let’s look at the […] Read more
Farmer Walking Through Field Checking Wheat Crop
Guide Business, Opinion

Time to take control

When it comes to the future of Canada’s grains sector, no one is steering the ship. We can’t let that continue

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Reading Time: 6 minutes In September, I challenged farmers to think about how Canada’s agricultural production should be branded. I questioned how consumers and foreign buyers view the commodities we produce. And most importantly, I wanted every farmer to ask themselves if production practices they use add or diminish that brand. That column upset some farmers. Readers felt my […] Read more
stacks of canadian dollar coins
Guide Business, News

Black swans

What will it take to knock Canada’s farmland market out of its holding pattern?

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian dollar “Excluding an extraordinary shock to production or commodity prices, a significant increase in the value of the Canadian dollar would have the biggest impact on the supply of farmland available for sale,” says Saskatchewan realtor Tim Hammond. A weak Canadian dollar is beneficial overall to Canadian farmers as they export the majority of […] Read more
(Video screengrab from BankofCanada.ca)
General, Markets

Consider hedging against rate hikes, farmers advised

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Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — The Bank of Canada has raised its benchmark interest rate to 1.5 per cent, marking the fourth time it has raised rates since last summer. The increase from 1.25 per cent is the base rate retail banks pay for short-term loans, but consumer rates for mortgages, lines of credit and other loans […] Read more
Sergio Marchionne, chairman of CNH Global, the parent company of New Holland and Case IH, and CEO of FCA, warned against killing NAFTA during a recent press conference in Detroit.
Guide Business, Machinery

NAFTA indecision

Washington may be divided on NAFTA, but machinery manufacturers certainly know where they stand

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Reading Time: 5 minutes Through mid-winter, the push from machinery executives for the U.S. government to reach a deal on NAFTA seemed to be gearing up. AEM (the Association of Equipment Manufacturers) was sending out that message even louder and clearer than it had been on behalf of its member companies in the ag and construction machinery sector. An […] Read more

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