Reading Time: 2 minutes FCC's top economist is urging farmers to find any way they can to save money, as the ag lender projects a 4.8 per cent decline in farm cash receipts in 2024 on the heels of lower commodity prices.
FCC predicts drop in farm cash receipts for 2024
Interest rates, inputs costs may come down but farmers urged to sharpen their pencils
FCC announces new 4R incentive
The program is open to FCC customers who use AgExpert platform
Reading Time: < 1 minute FCC announced the new Sustainability Incentive Program at the Western Canadian Crop Production Show in Saskatoon. The program is open to FCC customers who put a 4R nutrient management plan in place, record production activities through AgExpert Field, and have their 4R practices verified by a 4R designated agronomist.
Merit Foods pays off operating lender, no deal yet for plant
Plant-based protein processor in receivership since March
Reading Time: 3 minutes A Winnipeg pea and canola protein processor in receivership since this spring remains mothballed for now with no firm buyer — but has paid off one of its three secured creditors. Merit Functional Foods, which entered receivership March 1 after just two years’ operation, has sold all its remaining finished and raw inventory and directed […] Read more
FCC to offer beef heifer replacement loans
Loan program for those wanting to build, maintain herds
Reading Time: < 1 minute Cattle producers wanting to expand or maintain herds — in a time of nationwide herd contraction — are the expected beneficiaries for a new loan program from Farm Credit Canada. FCC on Tuesday announced what it calls the Replacement Heifer Program, consisting of a loan with a maximum loan life of seven years and a […] Read more
FCC offers new credit line against ‘current economic environment’
Ag lender to waive loan processing fees
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farm Credit Canada’s recent outreach to specific agrifood sectors hit by unusual environmental conditions has now extended to those hit by the broader “economic environment.” The federal ag lender on Tuesday said it will offer an unsecured credit line of up to $500,000 with loan processing fees waived, “to help producers, agribusinesses and agri-food operations […] Read more
Buy or rent? Land rent-to-price ratio can help farmers decide
FCC sees current ratios on farmland as (roughly) stable
Reading Time: 4 minutes Higher interest rates don’t seem to be affecting the ratio between land values and land rental costs — at least, not yet. Farm Credit Canada’s latest analysis of farmland rental prices says they’re roughly maintaining their traditional linkage, says J.P Gervais, the organization’s chief economist. “We were curious to see whether that would bring up […] Read more
Food sales grew but margins tightened in 2022, FCC says
Modest further growth expected this year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Food and beverages sales increased in Canada last year, even as margins hit an historic low and consumers chose Canadian less. According to the latest FCC Food and Beverage Report, released Tuesday, sales increased 11 per cent to $156 billion in 2022. These gains came largely from higher export values and strength in the grain […] Read more
Farmland values exceed expectations
Ontario leads the country with 19.4 per cent increase
Reading Time: 3 minutes Average farmland prices were up 12.8 per cent in Canada in 2022, the largest increase seen since 2014 when the increase was 14.3 per cent. The increase follows gains of 8.3 per cent in 2021 and 5.4 per cent in 2020. J.P. Gervais, FCC’s chief economist, said the numbers were a little bit of a […] Read more
Plant protein processor Merit Foods in receivership
Company owes $95 million to EDC, FCC
Reading Time: 3 minutes The company behind a new Prairie processing plant extracting plant-based proteins from peas and canola has landed in receivership, in the high eight figures’ debt to its secured lenders. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Wednesday announced it’s the receiver for both Merit Functional Foods Corp. and the numbered company that owns Merit’s processing plant and property in […] Read more
EDC executive to lead Farm Credit Canada
Justine Hendricks to replace retiring Michael Hoffort
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s federal farm lender is importing its next chief executive from Export Development Canada. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced the appointment of Justine Hendricks, EDC’s senior vice-president and chief corporate sustainability officer since 2019, as FCC’s new CEO effective Jan. 30, 2023. As CEO, Hendricks replaces Michael Hoffort, an FCC staffer since […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
