Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmland values in Canada, on average, appreciated in 2016 — and while it was less of an increase than the year before, the gain easily beat a bank GIC. Land prices here in Manitoba, which have been rising steadily since 1992, on average gained 12 per cent in both 2015 and 2014. But after four […] Read more
FCC sees increase in Canadian farmland values slowing
FCC launches new loan for young agri-businesspeople
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s federal farm lending agency is expanding its loan offerings in agribusiness and agrifood with a new program aimed at young businesspeople. Farm Credit Canada’s Young Entrepreneur Loan, launched Thursday in Ottawa during Canada Agriculture Day celebrations, will offer financing of up to $1 million per qualified applicant under age 40, at closed variable rates […] Read more
Canada’s farm income to dip, but remain above average
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian farmers’ incomes will decline seven per cent in 2017, falling for the second year in a row but remaining at above-average levels, the country’s agriculture department predicted on Friday. A drop in North American cattle and calf prices from record highs in 2015 is the main reason for the two-year dip, Agriculture […] Read more
FCC doubles down on Young Farmer Loans
Reading Time: 2 minutes Eligible farmers under age 40 will be able to get larger loans for less of a down payment through an expansion of Farm Credit Canada’s Young Farmer Loan plan. The federal farm lending agency on Wednesday announced the program’s credit limit per applicant will be doubled to $1 million, with a minimum down payment of […] Read more
FCC offers to bend terms for soaked Prairie growers
Reading Time: < 1 minute Canada’s federal farm lender says it will be flexible with qualifying Prairie crop growers facing financial trouble from a rain-soaked harvest season. Areas of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have experienced “significant levels of rain in the last half of the growing season and snow since the beginning of October,” Farm Credit Canada said in a […] Read more
Farmers’ debt seen hitting fresh record high
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian farmers’ debt will likely reach another record high this year, while land appreciation slows and incomes flatten, but the industry is still in strong financial shape, the country’s biggest agriculture lender, Farm Credit Canada, forecast on Tuesday. FCC, the federal Crown ag lending agency, sounded a note of caution for farmers, who […] Read more
Manitoba, Canadian farmland values up again in 2015
Farm Credit Canada says the annual percentage increase in farmland values is getting smaller
Reading Time: 4 minutes Manitoba farmland values led the way with the highest average percentage increase in Canada last year, says Farm Credit Canada (FCC). But the pace of increases the last few years here and across Canada is slowing in step with the plateauing of farm cash receipts, and slower drop in interest rates, J.P. Gervais, FCC’s chief […] Read more
Farmland fundamentals potentially bearish: FCC
Reading Time: 3 minutes Having tracked more double-digit percentage increases in Canadian farmland prices through 2015, Canada’s federal farm lender sees factors lining up for those values to retreat. Farm Credit Canada’s latest Farmland Values Report, released Monday, logged a 10.1 per cent increase in average farmland values in Canada in 2015, down from a 14.3 per cent rise in […] Read more
Our farmland for sale
The West is clamping down on foreign ownership of farmland, and even in Ontario, where there are few controls, overseas purchases are much lower than the rumour mill says
Reading Time: 5 minutes Almost every rural coffee shop has its own version of the same story. Foreigners are buying up Canadian farmland and they’re making land prices soar beyond the reach of local farmers as a result. But is it true? Maybe. But not likely. In fact, according to the people with their fingers on the pulse, such […] 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
