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
Farm groups want modernized NAFTA
Farm groups from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are calling for key reforms
Stress tests for change
Here’s a quick way to keep your eye on your cash flow projections this summer to help you plan loan payments and expenses this fall
Reading Time: 4 minutes Knowing how to read and understand financial statements is one of the first steps in assessing financial risk, helping you track how you’re doing compared to previous years (or against sector averages), and how any changes may have an impact on your bank account. From a financial perspective, stress testing can be the ultimate proactive […] Read more
A co-op for Sangudo
Times were getting tough in the rural Alberta community. Then, local farmers and businesses built a co-op to help local businesses grow and thrive
Reading Time: 7 minutes It was a scene that is all too familiar for rural communities. In 2005, the local school division threatened to close Sangudo’s high school. The move “really ticked people off,” says Dan Ohler, who lives in the area, and a “huge roomful” of people met to figure out what to do. Ohler is a certified […] Read more
Create your foreign exchange strategy
Can you afford to be exposed to the risks of volatile currency markets?
Reading Time: 3 minutes When it comes to managing risk to their operations, farmers are well versed in the usual suspects — whether that’s risks in the field like adverse weather, disease and equipment failure, or whether it’s spiking interest rates, lack of adequate cash flow, or being over-leveraged. But one often overlooked risk is when dealing with foreign […] Read more
How much money is enough?
It’s happening on more farms. Is your working capital reserve dangerously low?
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s no surprise that as farms get larger and more complicated, they need more working capital. There must be money available to handle large expenses, and to manage your way through cash-flow swings brought about by volatile commodity prices. Besides, in an era when it is so costly to grow or expand, it’s prudent to […] Read more
What bankers want to see when you go to the bank
Getting these documents ready before you meet the bank rep may mean more available financing with better terms
Reading Time: 4 minutes Typically banks review their clients’ financial statements annually as part of a credit review process. The goal is to understand the client’s ability to service debt and how this may have changed over the past year. “We want to help you manage your cash flow,” says plain speaking Tara Conway, BMO vice-president of commercial banking […] Read more
Green jobs eligible for wage subsidy
Reading Time: 2 minutes A new Career Focus Green Jobs program is offering wage subsidies to help employers with an environmental focus hire new graduates, a federal release says. The program targets small- and medium-sized businesses to help reduce the cost barriers of hiring new graduates by subsidizing their salary by 50 per cent to a maximum of $13,500 […] Read more
Brexit – good or bad for us?
While the ag sector looks for stability in currency markets, short-term price spikes and long-term trade agreements may get overlooked
Reading Time: 3 minutes Financial markets began to stabilize within days of the U.K.’s surprise Brexit vote this past June, but that doesn’t mean the vote has been shrugged off either by the big exchanges or by the markets that set the prices for farm commodities. It does mean, however, that the world is coming to terms with the […] Read more
Is direct-farm marketing an opportunity for larger farms?
Reading Time: 4 minutes The growing gap between consumer demand and the ability of the farm business community to meet that demand presents a dangerous vacuum for small farmers, believes Charlie Touchette, executive director of the North American Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association. It could, he says, become a vacuum that gets filled by corporate entities rather than local producers. […] Read more
Farming in a troubled economy
It looks like a weak dollar isn’t so good for agriculture after all
Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmers almost universally accept the premise that a drop in the Canadian dollar is bullish for our agriculture because our commodities are priced off the U.S. This increases our prices domestically and also makes us more competitive both in the U.S. and in regions where commodity transactions are made in American dollars. But is this […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
