Reading Time: 3 minutes MarketsFarm — Despite a year of economic uncertainty due to extreme weather, reduced crop yields and the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of Canadian farmland rose by its highest rate in four years, according to a report from Farm Credit Canada (FCC). FCC’s report, released Monday, revealed that the national average value of farmland increased by […] Read more
Rate of rise in farmland value ‘surprised’ in 2021
Canada books 8.3 per cent year-over-year increase, FCC reports
Rock solid: Can anything tame farmland prices?
Drought didn’t do it. Nor has the threat of rising interest rates
Reading Time: 7 minutes Land is in an investment category almost all by itself, says Steve Duff, Ontario’s chief ag economist. “Outside of GICs, there aren’t a whole lot of assets in today’s market that don’t have some downside risk.” It’s little wonder that other market watchers agree. Canada’s farmland prices increased by double-digit percentages every year from 2011 […] Read more
The value of Alberta farms rises again
Rising land prices – fuelled by higher crop prices – up by $8 billion but debt also rose in 2020
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – You’re richer than you think — and you owe more, too. That could be the theme of StatsCan’s latest snapshot of farm equity, the number you get when subtracting farm debts from the value of assets. If you had put all of the assets of every farm in Canada on the auction […] Read more
Interest rates biggest farm finance risk
Farm Credit Canada says the pace of debt growth has slowed but farmers need to have an interest rate risk management plan
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – The expansion of Canada’s farm debt continued, but at its lowest pace in six years. Meanwhile Farm Credit Canada’s chief economist says that the potential for higher interest rates is the “darkest cloud” in that otherwise optimistic picture. Statistics Canada data showed outstanding Canadian farm debt increased by 5.9 per cent to […] Read more
Serious about mentoring
The idea of mentorship is catching fire in agriculture, with new programs popping up all the time. Should you sign on?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Lance Stockbrugger always knew he wanted to farm. “It was going to be my career,” he says. “It was just a matter of how I was going to get there.” When he was 11, Lance’s father was killed in a motor vehicle accident. The family — Lance, his mother and his three siblings — were […] Read more
Getting to the dream
A real-life story of making a non-family farm transition work, including all the time, the effort, the talking and the satisfaction
Reading Time: 9 minutes About 15 years ago, Bob and Sharon McCoubrey were facing a dilemma. Bob’s body was telling him it was time to give up his orchard and vegetable farm in British Columbia’s Okanagan. It was time for the next phase of their lives, but past experience had left a bitter taste in their mouths. “We were […] Read more
Making a smarter deal for farmland
If farmers are so sharp at land buying, who do so many pay too much?
Reading Time: 9 minutes On most farms, it’s among the big decisions of an entire lifetime. Do you buy that farm down the road and take on all that risk? Or do you watch someone else farm it and mutter, every time you drive, “That could have been mine”? Either way, it’s harder than anyone outside of agriculture might […] Read more
Farmland appreciation continues through pandemic year
FCC report puts Canada's average land value increase at 5.4 per cent
Reading Time: 3 minutes Economic churn across Canada from the global COVID-19 pandemic didn’t faze the country’s real estate market — nor its farmland market in particular — in 2020, according to the latest review from the federal farm lending agency. Farm Credit Canada on Monday released its 2020 Farmland Values report, showing an average increase of 5.4 per […] Read more
Farmland rentals in Western Canada continue to rise
More and more acres are on the rental market, with land increasingly held by families exiting active farming
Reading Time: 8 minutes The number of acres of rented and leased farmland in Canada is going nowhere but up, and will keep being led by Western Canada, especially Saskatchewan and Alberta. “I would expect that we’ll continue to see more people renting land for a number of reasons,” says Farm Credit Canada’s principal agricultural economist Craig Klemmer. That’s […] Read more
FCC identifies export, market opportunities for Canadian food
The ag lender's latest report highlights canola oil, pork, potato products, crab meat
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canada is already a major exporter of agricultural goods, food and beverages — but increasing food and beverage exports is still one of Canada’s biggest trade opportunities, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) says. And by diversifying exports, farmers will become less dependent on current major markets, reducing their financial risk. “When borders close for any number […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
