Farmers of today can get into financial trouble faster than previous generations due to increased costs. On bigger operations, farm losses can’t be subsidized by off-farm work like they could in prior decades.

Bigger numbers add complexity and risk to the farm budgeting process. Since tracking farm financials can be an onerous process, I’ve broken it down into seven digestible steps.

1. The land budget

The land budget is used by your lenders, agronomists, accountants and for crop insurance reporting. Owned and rented land should be separated, and any crop share arrangements should be highlighted and segregated.

A typical issue with land rent is whether GST is paid, and timing and method of payment.

Legal land descriptions, field names, cultivated acres and even land appraisal values are all good information to include as part of your land budgeting process.

Canada’s largest farmland owner, Robert Andjelic, disclosed on a recent webinar that he uses spreadsheets to manage his land holdings. You can as well.

2. The gross margin budget

Gross margin consists of yield multiplied by price less your input expenses (e.g., seed, fertilizer, chemical, crop insurance). Some nuances of the gross margin budget include accrual adjustments for prepaid inputs, chemical pricing and rebates, accounting for bin run seed, and late decisions regarding private insurance and fungicides.

The gross margin budget helps you determine profitability of different cropping options. Using AgriStability-vetted production data is the best source of historical yield data.

3. The capex (capital expense) budget

The capex budget determines your capital addition and replacement needs, and methods of financing.

Paying cash for machinery and other assets when there is money in the bank will show up later as eroded working capital.

The capital budget needs to consider machinery trade differences, revolving machinery loans and capitalizing betterments versus expensing normal repairs.

Capital asset continuity/depreciation schedules should be obtained from your chartered professional accountant (CPA) and reviewed for accuracy at least annually.

4. The labour budget

The labour budget includes employees and custom/contract workers on your farm. Consider payroll deductions and taxable benefits for employees.

This budget determines who, how, and when your employees and contract workers will be compensated.

I still consider a benchmark of 2,500–3,000 acres per full-time equivalent on a western Canadian grain farm. In other words, a husband-and-wife team could farm 5,000 acres with some seasonal help.

5. The opex (operating expense) budget

This is the “everything else” budget. Examples include machinery repairs, small tools and professional fees.

Machinery repairs are typically hard to budget and are usually a trade-off between running new machinery and older machines. Significant one-time repairs can sometimes skew results year to year.

Another nuance is fuel. A good way to approach this is to find the actual quantity used in the previous year and apply the price for the new year.

6. The debt schedule

The debt schedule consists of both a loan schedule and a lease schedule. The starting point is recording the timing and amount of your loan and lease payments. The debt schedule can be beefed up by including interest rates and lease buyout amounts and timing. Tracking principal payments allows you to break out principal from interest on blended payments.

Operating leases could be tracked with your opex budgeting. Capital leases, however, should be part of your debt schedule.

7. Owner compensation budget

Both the cost to farm and cost of living has increased recently. Personal budgeting is needed to determine how much you need to withdraw from the farm in the upcoming farm budgeting cycle — especially when the farm is the only source of income.

Accountants usually advise a mix of wages, dividends and custom work to compensate farm owners.

Some banks will include owner draws as part of their debt servicing calculation.

Putting it all together

Now you have the pieces for a rolling cash-flow forecast and accrual income statement. Providing these numbers to your lender early and often will set you apart as a proactive farm manager and lower-risk borrower. Periodically updating and re-forecasting these numbers will give you better data to make decisions.

Craig Macfie, CPA, PAg, provides fractional CFO services to growing farms and agribusinesses. Find out more at springcfo.com

The post Farm budgeting in seven steps appeared first on Country Guide.

Leading up to that day, media outlets reported “workforce adjustment” notices coming for multiple departments, with AAFC among them. When, and how many jobs lost for agriculture? The closest thing to an answer I could find the night before appeared to be a letter to AAFC staff from the department’s deputy minister, copied and posted to Reddit by a third party on the CanadaPublicServants subreddit.

There was no reason to doubt its accuracy, but the idea of relying on Reddit as a sole sources makes any good journalist squirm. Fortunately, our national affairs reporter, Jonah Grignon, was able to get confirmation from an AAFC source on Jan. 22 that the letter was correct: about 665 positions were to be cut, with notifications going out to affected employees that day.

Later the same day, though, we began seeing more posts from third parties on social media, this time that federal research farms and facilities would be closing. From the federal government itself though? We got only crickets.

Most of our staff were still out Jan. 23 confirming where job cuts and facility closures are to happen at all.

A single federal press release or public statement up front would have made our jobs way easier and freed up time to ask the deeper questions: how will these cuts affect farmer-facing services and research?

More to the point, it would have given some much-needed certainty rather than abdicating the conversation to spiral into speculation and rumour.

This isn’t necessarily to suggest there shouldn’t have been spending cuts. After the last federal budget rolled in November, we all knew there would be cuts — just not the where, when or how.

Nor is it to suggest federal officials had nothing else important to do. That week in the news included the prime minister’s remarkably consequential speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, and the cabinet retreat in Quebec right afterward, ahead of the House of Commons coming back Jan. 26 from adjournment.

But Canada’s government is a big organization and can do more than one thing at a time. On Jan. 22 alone, it publicly announced a funding extension for the Manitoba Farmer Wellness Program, funding for subway train manufacturing in Quebec, a new Competition Bureau report on businesses’ use of “algorithmic pricing,” seizures of contraband at the federal penitentiary in Kingston and that a National Film Board-funded short film is up for an Oscar.

My point is, the Liberal budget firmly declared a dual agenda of building a more versatile Canadian economy while “spending less to invest more” and pursuing responsibility through this “comprehensive expenditure review.”

Yet when workforce adjustment and closure notices went out nationwide, affecting thousands of workers’ lives and communities, the government chose not to get out in front of its cuts at all — even if just to try and keep control of its own messaging.

The government’s budget trumpeted its commitment to fiscal responsibility by cutting $60 billion in spending over the next five years. It’s not to much to ask that, once a course of action is set, the Liberals at least try to own their own decisions.

The post Government silence loud on AAFC cuts appeared first on Country Guide.

The culprits behind the outlook include the ongoing trade war with the U.S., underused trade deals with other trade partners, and high-rate mortgage renewals.

WHY IT MATTERS: Canada’s economy, agriculture included, is till trying to navigate volatile seas when it comes to trade and geopolitics, impacting projected farmer profit margins, investment and gr0wth prospects in the agriculture sector and more.

Krishen Rangasamy, principal economist with FCC, spoke at the farm lending company’s 2026 Economic Outlook Jan. 22.

“I understand that what we’re saying here is quite different from consensus on interest rates, because most forecasters are predicting either no change to the overnight rate or even an increase later this year,” said Rangasamy.

“That may well be the right forecast if the economy picks up materially. But … we think economic growth will weaken this year and and, if we’re correct about that, additional stimulus by the central bank should not be ruled out.”

Uncertain economics reign

Uncertainty over the future of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) will continue to be a limiting factor, he said. Rangasamy also doesn’t see the threat of U.S. tariffs going away anytime soon.

He suspects Canadian exporters in CUSMA’s tariff-free categories such as farm, fishing and intermediate food products have felt above-expected tariff impacts due to confusion over rules of origin requirements, losing their CUSMA compliance in the process.

“Remember that the majority of our exports to the U.S. is tariff-free thanks to CUSMA, and yet, outside of the energy sector, our exporters have really struggled since the U.S. tariffs were imposed,” he noted.

Tariffs that have been placed on Canadian goods have caused U.S. importers to look elsewhere. This has caused Canada’s share of the U.S. market to drop to 11 per cent — its lowest ever — in 2025.

Although Rangasamy considers Canada’s attempts to diversify trade partners commendable, he’s disappointed in the country’s apparent inability to “materially reduce” dependence on the U.S., in light of its 15 free trade agreements with 51 countries.

“We’re not capitalizing on opportunities presented by those trade deals,” he said, citing ignored opportunities presented by the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

That agreement was designed to offer Canadian businesses preferential access to the EU market. But some expected big winners when the deal was first inked have failed to see major gains, particularly meat sectors who say regulation conflicts continue to keep them out.

“Over the last eight years (EU) exports grew by 40 per cent to Canada. Our exports to the European Union have barely budged over that eight-year period,” he said. “So we’re struggling to even take advantage of the trade deals we’ve got already.”

Leveraging the house

This year will also see a large share of Canadian households renewing mortgages at higher interest rates than their origination. According to Bank of Canada estimates, mortgage payments will increase by an average six per cent this year.

“Those households that are renewing their fixed-year, five-year mortgage — which, by the way, is the most popular mortgage product in the country. For those folks, payments will increase by about 20 per cent,” outlook listeners heard.

If there’s a bright spot for Canada, Rangasamy said it’s the federal government’s new focus on ambitious public projects that could rekindle business investment. But don’t expect big results too soon.

“It’s probably not a 2026 story. It’s probably something more like next year or even 2028.”

Note: An earlier version of this article reported that FCC had forecast GDP to fall, rather than for expected growth to slow. We further put Canada’s free trade deal numbers at 51. Canada has 15 trade deals with 51 countries. Glacier FarmMedia regrets the error.

The post Canadian GDP growth slow down expected in 2026, FCC says appeared first on Country Guide.

Invoices. Contracts. Receipts. And then there’s the inbox full of emails.

If anyone knows how to keep financial and other documents in order, it’s Lacey Frizzell. Her consulting business helps farmers and businesses organize their financial information, then set up systems to keep it organized.

“Farmers are unique,” says Frizzell.

“There’s a lot of information being thrown at us from a variety of sources, which makes it very hard to keep organized.”

And Frizzell knows a thing a two about organization. She juggles work on her family farm near Stirling, Ont., a job in the banking sector, a nearly two-year-old and a newborn.

A busy life like hers requires a straightforward organizational system where it’s clear where every piece of paper should go, and someone is responsible for putting it there.

If this isn’t the case on your farm, maybe your filing system needs at best a few tweaks, at worst a complete overhaul.

Cut the clutter

Don’t file it unless you really need to keep it.

Will anyone on your farm management team look at it again? Is it relevant for legal or financial reasons? “What is the purpose?” Frizzell asks.

Usually, the purpose is for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Generally, the CRA requires businesses to keep records on hand for six years. That is, six years after the end of the last tax year they relate to. If your farm’s year-end is December 31, as of January 2026, you should be storing records from as far back as fiscal 2019. If your farm’s year-end is October 31, by January 2026 you should still have records around from your 2018/19 fiscal year.

This covers most expenses and income, but paperwork related to capital purchases should be kept even longer. Keep receipts for anything that would be relevant if you sell or wind down your farm.

This includes any land or equipment showing the book value (e.g., initial purchase price). Selling buildings, quota or any equipment you’ve been depreciating has tax consequences — and CRA might ask for original purchase documents.

The bottom line: you don’t need to keep everything but check with your accountant if you’re not sure.

Paper or pixels?

Once you’ve decided to keep that receipt, you have to decide if you’ll file it as a paper or digital record. Both have downsides. If you choose a paper system, you’ll be printing out email attachments and bank transfer notifications. If you choose digital, you’ll be scanning paper receipts from Home Hardware.

Frizzell loves technology, but she uses a paper-based system.

“I still recommend that people print everything because paper is still seemingly king.”

Printers jam. Paper piles up. But Frizzell said it’s worth coping with the hassles of paper to avoid problems with technology.

First, she says, technology is never 100 per cent reliable. Hard drives fail. USB sticks get lost. Cloud services have storage limits and generally there is an annual fee associated with the service.

Second, even if your storage methods are perfect, your technology can still become obsolete.

If you’re storing receipts through an online bookkeeping program, what if the software company goes out of business? If you change bookkeeping programs, will you still be able to view scanned invoices from past years? Will the records always be readily available and easy to locate?

“I would love to be more enthusiastic about digital record-keeping,” says Frizzell.

“I’m just finding that there’s no live technology that you own as an individual, without paying a subscription.”

A third potential problem is the safety and security of your digital information.

“Is your information being shared on someone else’s platform? I caution people on what information they want to share.”

In a worst-case scenario, a hacker may have access to all your digital information.

If you favour keeping your records online, Frizzell recommends working with your local technology guru to set up appropriate firewalls and anti-virus programs.

Rules are for everyone

No matter where your records are stored, a good bookkeeping system has a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that is followed by everyone on the farm.

Making sure you know where originals are is one SOP Frizzell highly recommends.

“Ultimately there should be one central location where records are held. Especially for audit purposes and recall.”

Some bookkeeping programs allow more than one person to upload scanned receipts and invoices straight into the software. This is convenient for employees picking up parts or materials; they can scan and upload their receipts before they come home from town.

But where will you have them store the original paper copies?

With more than one person inputting information, bookkeeping can become a bit messy.

For example, if one person uploads receipts from the local “Co-op” and another adds invoices from the “Coop,” your books could show two separate input providers.

Or consider item categories. Should those replacement knives for the headers be classified as “harvest expenses” or “combine repairs”?

It’s important to set up standard procedures or make sure your bookkeeper has an eye on things.

It’s also important to have a bookkeeping backup plan — if something happens to your bookkeeper can someone else access your financial records?

Your farm, your plan

The best system is the system that works for your farm and is kept up to date. No one is grading your efforts.

Accountants aren’t usually looking at your record-keeping (depending on the type of financial statements you need) but at your bookkeeping.

Unless your financial records will be professionally audited, you’re keeping records to serve requests from CRA and your own managerial needs.

And since no one but your farm team needs to see a lot of this information, you have an opportunity to develop an organization system that’s perfect for you.

Decide who needs access to the books and the bank accounts. This will be unique to every farm. Some farms have just one manager; some have several.

Sometimes limiting access to accounts can safeguard your finances. Unfortunately, Frizzell has seen situations where a farmer’s new partner has been able to drain bank accounts when a relationship headed south.

Some staff might need access to your filing system, maybe to check receipts or invoices. But, Frizzell says:

“Not all employees need access to everything.”

Some bookkeeping programs use password protection to restrict access to some information while still allowing staff to access specific files.

On some farms, several members of the management team might want to access the bookkeeping system. As a farm manager herself, Frizzell says, “I would strongly urge to see paper copies of invoices.”

Frizzell files her paper copies by date and by enterprise (for her, that means separating the cattle bills from the cropping bills). She also keeps separate files for invoices and receipts that they access more frequently.

Large farms might have a chief financial officer, but even on small farms there is typically just one person in charge of financial record-keeping. Sometimes, a second person might be actually paying the bills.

Frizzell prefers a “check and balance system.”

This could mean one person writes the cheques and a second person reviews them, or it could mean requiring two signatures on each cheque.

As online bill payment becomes more common, Frizzell recommends using an online cash management service that allows you to set up a two-person system for these payments.

For example, one person can prepare e-transfers, while a second person must approve them. (If you’re looking into this, search for “two to sign” accounts, or “dual sign” accounts.)

Check and balance systems protect farms against the rare, unfortunate situation where one partner so desperately needs cash that they resort to “borrowing” from the farm. A check and balance approach might not be required for one-person operations, but “as you grow, it’s something to look into,” Frizzell says.

These systems can also help reduce simple errors. Who hasn’t typed 47 when they meant 74?

“A lot of things are human driven, and as humans, we do make errors,” says Frizzell.

Keep it current

No matter what system you use, it’s only useful if it’s up to date. For large farms, this could mean inputting information daily. Smaller farms might use a monthly system.

“It becomes so messy so quickly,” Frizzell says.

If regular bookkeeping sessions are not for you, maybe your system needs a redesign to simplify processes. Or maybe it’s time to hire a bookkeeper.

Frizzell has found some farmers are reluctant to pay for a service such as bookkeeping that they know they could do themselves. If you’re someone who would rather be in the field than a filing cabinet, consider the benefits of hiring a bookkeeper:

Accountants typically charge by the hour. At year-end, your accountant will need less time to calculate your taxes if your financial records are well-maintained and reasonably error-free.

The headache of a CRA audit increase exponentially if your receipts and records are hard to find or not available at all.

“If you don’t have a great system (or a great accountant), if you go through a CRA audit and you don’t have the information or it’s been accounted for wrong, it can cost you thousands and thousands of dollars,” cautions Frizzell.

Bookkeepers can also be asked to take on additional duties, such as helping to develop environmental farm plans, or making sure vegetable production is up to Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) standards.

If you want to learn to do your own bookkeeping (or train someone new) could you pay your current bookkeeper to train you? There are also courses available.

“Some of it is pretty simple,” Frizzell says, “but then there’s things that you need to figure out like what capital cost allowance depreciation class does the gravity wagon go in or that new tractor.”

Strong books, strong business

Your management team can use reliable, up-to-date financial information to make decisions. Farm Management Canada recommends using financial statements to calculate financial ratios and evaluate your business.

But financial reports are only as good as the information and filing system used to create them. Bookkeeping isn’t the most glamorous job on the farm, but it’s the foundation of other decisions.

From borrowing money to buying land to weathering a bad year, you’ll make more effective choices if your records are organized, current and accurate. CG

The post Winter downtime: Organize your farm records now for smoother operation appeared first on Country Guide.

The Bank of Canada recently called the Canadian economy resilient in the face of trade woes and kept its key policy rate steady at 2.25 per cent. It noted that third quarter annualized GDP grew by 2.6 per cent, much more than expected.

However, a recent FCC report predicts Canada’s economy decelerating due to factors like interest rates, ongoing trade uncertainty and voluntary country of origin labelling (vCOOL).

“The message there was basically that maybe there’s a little bit of complacency in the markets,” said Krishen Rangasamy, FCC’s principal economist and the report’s author.

Interest rates

He said there is a chance interest rates will go down next year. This is likely to affect farmers, who are heavy borrowers. The report cites several complications for residential construction, which accounts for about eight per cent of Canada’s economy.

“Even though the Bank of Canada, in our view, should probably lower rates next year … long rates are probably not going to change a whole lot from here.”

Rangasamy said this is related to Canada’s bonds being closely linked to U.S. treasuries.

“’Oh, the Bank of Canada is lowering rates. Why isn’t my mortgage rate falling? I’m about to renew, and it’s still high.’ Well, then that’s the answer, right? So, you’re borrowing at the long end of a yield curve, not at the short end.”

The five-year bond rate is at three per cent. Five years ago in 2021, it was one per cent.

“Which tells you if you originated five years ago in 2021 and you’re going to renew in 2026 what’s going to happen? You’re going to renew at a higher rate, a way higher rate than what you originated at,” said Rangasamy.

“Whoever is going to renew next year a fixed rate product at the longer end of a yield curve, it’s going to be painful.”

Business confidence decreasing

Investment intentions over the next year are also predicted to drop, as the report shows business confidence decreasing in Canada.

The cloud that is uncertainty with the U.S. is expected to continue to cause problems.

“At the moment it looks like it’s going to stay there for 2026,” Rangasamy said.

The report predicts that “as the impact of the AI investment boom fades, cracks formed by the White House’s policies on tariffs and immigration will become more visible stateside.”

This could lead to a drop in demand for exported Canadian goods, 70 per cent of which are purchased by the U.S.

“Any drop in U.S. demand will have repercussions on this side of the border,” the report states.

One factor could help ease trade tensions: negotiations on the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) are set to begin next summer. Rangasamy said it is possible, even likely CUSMA will be renewed. Until anything is certain, the cloud will linger.

“That’s one of the reasons we’re not that optimistic about the rebound of business investment in Canada,” he said. “One thing businesses don’t like is uncertainty, and that U.S. trade policy is certainly wreaking havoc in that regard.”

Country of origin labelling

Another potentially aggravating factor is voluntary country of origin labelling (vCOOL) rules in the U.S., set to come into effect Jan. 1.

Canadian commodity groups say the vCOOL ruling could limit their access to American markets.

“There’s anecdotal evidence and some newspaper clippings that some farmers are already seeing a drop in demand from the U.S. ahead of that vCOOL being implemented,” said Rangasamy.

He said previous similar regulations harmed Canadian agriculture, particularly the hog sector.

Mandatory country of origin labelling (mCOOL) “went away in 2015, and we recovered a little bit, but we never went back to pre-mCOOL (mandatory country of origin labeling) levels,” he said.

“If you look at history, there’s a precedent where U.S policy basically causes permanent damage, even if it was it was removed afterwards,” he said. “If you take this as a guide, well, that’s not a great sign.”

Weathering the storm

Though FCC’s forecast may look dire, Rangasamy said it is “not all doom and gloom” and offered some suggestions for producers in the year ahead.

The first piece of advice is to boost productivity as much as possible.

“Make sure you’re lean, because … you’ll be in a better position to weather the storm,” he said. “You can’t control the external forces. What you can do is control your operation. So stay lean, seek productivity improvements wherever you can.”

Knowing costs of production is also crucial, as it can help producers take advantage of market movements. Rangasamy used the recent volatility of canola prices as an example:

“Markets sort of overreacted for two, three months,” he said. “Let’s say you’re a canola producer, so you know what your cost of production is, and as soon as you see prices go up and up towards a certain level, you say, ‘hey, I can lock this in.’”

“All this is a good thing, but also very important is to know your cost of production, to take advantage of volatility, because there’s always volatility in commodity markets, but more so with trade policy.”

The post FCC forecasts rocky financial year, points to waning confidence, vCOOL, interest rates appeared first on Country Guide.

This was one of the resolutions passed at the NFU’s annual general meeting in Moncton, N.B., Nov. 19-21.

“The idea of a guaranteed annual income pilot came from our Prince Edward Island membership. Part of the reason for that is in P.E.I., they’ve been kicking around this basic income guarantee idea for a few years provincially,” said Phil Mount, vice-president of policy with NFU.

“It’s been front and centre for them, and they’ve come up with the idea of a guaranteed annual income for farmers, specifically as a pilot project we should take on,” said Mount, who has a sheep farm and is based in Ottawa.

A guaranteed income would stabilize farmers’ incomes, which are often unstable.

“We have a long history with the NFU of supporting guaranteed annual income,” he said.

Challenging economics

In 2016, the NFU outlined a resolution for a basic income guarantee, but that was a Canada-wide, basic income guarantee support.

“This one is specific to farmers, and it’s basically meant to acknowledge the difficulties that farmers face, particularly new and young farmers getting into farming. That’s a critical area that we need to address,” said Mount.

The average age of farmers, across any Canadian province, is 56 years old.

Mount said the first 10 years of farming are critically important for setting down roots and expanding a business enough to make it stable and resilient for the long-term. Farmers currently must deal with rising input costs, as well as the rising cost of land.

“The price of land, pretty much now in every province, has been disconnected from basically the returns you’re going to see from that farmland. It’s no longer agricultural land tied to the price of growing crops. On that land, it’s been a complete disconnect now,” he said.

Mount said rising farmland costs have accelerated over the past 10 years. Prices were astronomical in Ontario in 2015, but now prices have jumped in Alberta and Saskatchewan too.

It’s even more challenging for farmers renting farmland.

“If you’re renting, you’re not putting that money into an asset that you’re going to have long term,” he said.

Paying for land has the additional benefit for farmers, as the money they are investing will come back eventually.

“That’s what the generations that went before have been relying on. You don’t have to make an incredible profit every year. You can put money back into your business and keep it viable, because you know you’re got that retirement income in the asset of the land,” he said.

Pilot specifics to be determined

The next step for the NFU in their attempt to secure a guaranteed annual income of $50,000 is to nail down the practicalities of the program.

Mount said the group needs to be prepared to speak with government, civil servants and other leaders across the country. Both federal and provincial governments will need to be involved, he said.

“We could be looking at a provincial pilot somewhere. We could even be looking at a very local pilot project somewhere. We’ve had some local basic income guarantees in this country, so that might be an option as well. I guess what we are looking to do is iron out some of the options, talking with folks about this and talking with our allies in other sectors because it’s not an idea that is unique to farming,” he said.

Mount said he does not know when the NFU will approach the government, as they are still working with their own policy committees. People are already paying attention to the idea.

“There’s a huge amount of interest in this guaranteed annual income pilot from across the media spectrum,” he said.

Mount said the idea of a guaranteed basic income could have an opportunity for nation building projects in food and agriculture, particularly in regional infrastructure, that would allow farmers to feed their own communities and regions.

“We’ve lost of much of our regional infrastructure to just transport and store and sell food within our regions and provinces. There’s a nation building opportunity here, and I think tying this project to that is a piece that would resonate for folks,” he said.

Capping grocery profits

The media has also shown interest in another resolution passed at the NFU AGM.

The resolution proposes a concept of capping the profit of grocery chains.

“This links in because we did a report this year on what we call the ‘farmers’ share,’ which is looking at the research on what proportion of the share of prices that consumers pay at grocery retail gets back to farmers. That’s another piece of this viable farm income. We’ve seen this disconnect in the last 50 years between the incredible efficiencies farmers have created allowing them to produce more and more with less and less,” he said.

But at the same time, farmers are receiving less of the consumer dollar.

Members voted to lobby Ottawa for a cap on the profits of the major grocery chains, such as Sobeys and Loblaws, which have a monopoly on the market.

The post National Farmers’ Union proposes guaranteed basic income for farmers appeared first on Country Guide.

I must admit that when I was younger numbers mystified and frustrated me.

In fact, my typically jovial grade six teacher finally lost his patience with me one day after hearing me say (likely with that distinctive snooty-dismissiveness only a twelve-year-old can conjure up), “Why do I need to learn this? I’m never going to use it.” (Insert pre-teen eyeroll.)

Even though twelve-year-old me was right for the most part (I feel so vindicated!), I have come to appreciate the extraordinary value numbers bring to the table, especially in a farm business context — which happens to be the focus of this month’s issue.

Humans in general have been finely attuned to numbers for millennia. In fact, the ability to conceptualize numbers came long before the alphabet and seems to be an intrinsic part of the human brain. And so, love ’em or hate ’em, numbers are an integral part of farming.

Leeann Minogue’s “Guide to financial ratios” article is a great starting point for new farmers and an excellent refresher for the rest of us. She walks us through three financial indicators that matter most to bankers and helps us see how understanding them can strengthen a farm’s financial future.

And Evan Shout’s piece, “Shifting tides bring change to agriculture,” reviews the financial non-negotiables when it comes to running your farm business. He also stresses something we often so easily (and understandably) forget: making decisions “with no emotions, just data.”

But it’s dang hard to make decisions without emotions as you’ll find out when you read our cover story “The transition trial.” The Vreeling family is not new to making big decisions with long-term and far-reaching consequences. But their most recent round of decisions required an extra level of urgency and “their ability to analyze, communicate, decide and move forward is unwavering,” writes Danielle Ranger.

Similarly, Maggie Van Camp’s article “How to talk about your farm succession estate plans” helps the now gen have important, emotion-free conversations with the next gen about farm finances and planning. “People often anticipate that sharing their estate plans will lead to conflicts, so they avoid them all together,” she writes. She says the idea is to aim for conversations with low to no drama — and to certainly avoid these big discussions at family holiday meals.

Early humans scratched tally marks on bones and clay tablets to help them keep track of an empire’s food stores. We might now use computer software programs and apps to help us keep our numbers straight, but the idea remains the same: we need to know the numbers to run a successful farm business.

Interested in finding out what numbers you should be keeping track of? Looking for tools to help you improve your farm numbers? Download the Numbers Toolkit today!

The post Country Guide November editorial: The now, the next and the numbers appeared first on Country Guide.

• The budget includes about $1 trillion in investment and posts a deficit over $78 billion.
• The government set a goal of doubling non-U.S. exports over 10 years.
• The federal government proposes to increase the AgriStability compensation rate to 90 per cent from 80 per cent and the payment cap per farm to $6 million from $3 million.
• The Advance Payments Program for canola will see $97.5 million spent over two years to increase the interest-free limit on advances to $500,000 for the 2025 and 2026 program years.
• Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada will wind down, streamline or realign some of its research to better fit government priorities. Agricultural Climate Solution Living Labs will be phased out.

The 2025 federal budget puts a hefty focus on trade diversification along with pledged investments into biofuel production and increased business risk management supports.

The “Canada Strong” budget is touted as a “plan to transform our economy from one that is reliant on a single trade partner, to one that is stronger, more self-sufficient, and more resilient to global shocks” in a federal news release.

It boasts some $1 trillion of investments. It also posts a $78.3 billion deficit.

Investments in transport and trade diversification

The Carney government pledged several efforts to guide Canadian exports, including agri-food, away from overreliance on the American market.

“Canada’s trade remains heavily concentrated with a single partner: the United States,” the budget document says. “At the same time, Canada has significant untapped potential to diversify its trade.”

The budget sets a goal to double non-U.S. exports over 10 years. It says this will generate $300 billion more in trade.

This goal includes a new strategic exports office at Global Affairs Canada, which aims to pave the way for Canadian companies and international business opportunities.

The Asia-Pacific region will be an area of particular focus for Canadian exports going forward, which the budget identifies as a “critical market for Canadian agriculture.”

The government pledged $5 billion over seven years toward a trade diversification corridors fund through Transport Canada, beginning in 2025-26.

It also promised an additional $68.5 million over four years to enhance CanExport, which encourages small and medium-sized businesses to find markets abroad by sharing the costs of international business development activities like legal expenses and market research.

Aside from Asia, the budget also promises new trade efforts in the European market, including $8 million over four years to Global Affairs Canada to deepen trade relationships with European partners, beginning in 2026-27. This same period will also see $20 million to enhance the agency’s capacity to negotiate and implement trade investment-related agreements.

Despite challenges from export markets, the budget notes Canada’s domestic-facing sectors have been faring well. It gives credit to Canadians intentionally redirecting spending to domestic industries.

Direct investments in agriculture programs

The budget promises to help Canada’s agriculture sector to “adapt and respond to economic challenges and a shifting trade environment, while positioning them to take advantage of new opportunities.”

One major investment is in the AgriStability program, where the compensation rate will be increased from 80 per cent to 90 per cent and the payment cap per farm raised from $3 million to $6 million. The government will also work to will identify barriers underrepresented groups face in accessing farm financing.

The Advance Payments Program for canola will see $97.5 million spent over two years to increase the interest-free limit on advances to $500,000 for the 2025 and 2026 program years. In September, the federal government announced it would temporarily increase the interest-free portion to $500,000 from $250,000 to help farmers facing market disruptions due to Chinese tariffs on canola.

The AgriMarketing program has $75 million earmarked to enhance diversification and promotion into new markets over five years, starting in 2026-27.

The biofuel sector will be another recipient of government investment. In a move telegraphed earlier this year, $372 million over two years will go to a Biofuels Production Incentive to support domestic biofuels producers beginning in 2026. This repurposes $175.2 million from the Clean Fuels Fund.

The government also said it intends to amend the Clean Fuel Regulations to support the domestic biofuels industry.

Changes within government bodies

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are set to see changes and streamlining.

AAFC will reorient programming, research and expenditures to better align with the government’s overall priorities. This will include phasing out programs outside the core mandate like the Agricultural Climate Solution Living Labs and reducing scientific activities where a “more streamlined approach can be taken.”

The budget proposes several measures withing CFIA to support increased food exports, including modernized trade tools to simplify processes and reduce the risk of errors and product safety concerns overseas.

CFIA will also receive $32.8 million over four years, beginning in 2026-27, to “secure, expand and restore market access for Canadian agriculture and agri-food, fish and seafood sectors,” including looking to other countries for new trade agreements and better market access.

Other investments and projects

The budget included several other projects and legislative changes which could support the agriculture sector. They include:

• An amendment to the Farm Credit Canada act which would require regular legislative reviews to ensure alignment with the needs of the agriculture and agri-food sector.
• “Winding down mechanisms to return direct fuel charge proceeds to Canadians, small- and medium-sized businesses, farmers, and Indigenous governments,” following the cancellation of consumer carbon pricing.
• Nation-building projects to expand trade corridors, including upgrades the Port of Churchill.
• Consideration to invest in projects like ports in Quebec, rail lines in Alberta and rail infrastructure on the West Coast.
• A proposed extension of the 2005 agricultural cooperative tax rules to apply in respect of eligible shares issued before the end of 2030.
• The Contrecoeur Terminal Container Project, which will expand the Port of Montreal’s capacity by approximately 60 per cent to boost Eastern Canada’s trading infrastructure, to be completed in the first round of major nation-building projects.

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Why it matters: Canadian farmers are facing uncertain markets and a squeeze to grain farm profits.

At FCC’s 2025 economic update webinar Sept. 18, FCC executive vice-president J.P. Gervais pegged overall economic growth in 2025 at 1.1 per cent — just shy of the Bank of Canada’s 1.3 per cent forecast. FCC estimates one per cent growth in 2026, virtually in line with Bank of Canada estimates.

Both forecasts represent less growth than in 2023 and 2024, which saw economic growth of 1.5 and 1.6 per cent, respectively.

“If you think of 2 per cent as the potential of the economy, we’re really going under the speed limit,” said Gervais, who placed much of the blame on tariffs but did not discount other “underlying issues” for their roles in a softening Canadian economic outlook.

Gervais urged producers not to get too comfortable with agri-food’s almost universal lack of exposure (97 per cent of food can still pass the U.S. border tariff-free) thanks to inclusion under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade agreement.

However, a lot of confusion around U.S. tariffs remains on both sides of the border.

“Even on the U.S. side, lots of customers are telling us that their sales are being taxed and that they actually shouldn’t be because they are compliant. They’ve gone through the process of proving their compliance with CUSMA,” Gervais said.

“Second of all, there’s also uncertainty with regards to what is going to happen in the future. And with uncertainty comes kind of a little reluctance on the part of businesses to invest in their business, just waiting to see how policy is going to evolve on the U.S. side.”

A significant chunk of of Canada’s exports are non-exempt products such as lumber, steel and aluminum.

“All of that does have an impact on the economy. And then we got the second quarter GDP estimate, and it came negative.”

That said, Gervais pointed to the Building Canada Act, intended to fast-track the building of Canadian infrastructure, as a “great first step” that will reverberate across industries, including agriculture.

“We’re talking about more infrastructure. And if you’re thinking about investment in ports, rail, roads, all of these can actually have some significant positive spillovers in the rest of the economy, making it easier for businesses to do business and to invest and sell and develop markets and so forth,” he said.

“Even defence spending, to some extent, is a positive can have a positive spillover.”

However, all of that is going to take time. During that time, it will be up to the Bank of Canada — which Gervais praised for its Sept. 17 overnight rate reduction of 25 basis points — to find ways to reignite the country’s economy, he said.

To that end, Des Sobool, deputy chief economist at FCC, forecasts the central bank will cut interest rates by another 50 basis points by the end of 2025.

“This is really in response to a slowing economy,” said Sobool.

“The Bank of Canada doesn’t want a recession to happen … but we see the economy (and) how poorly it’s performing.”

Watch for more coverage of FCC’s Sept. 18 economic forecast.

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Colin Brisebois, vice-president of products and market strategies with FCC, said the new enhanced loan will benefit farmers, given the current financial realities of agriculture.

“I think it’s important now as the industry continues to evolve, the price of assets continues to grow and there continues to be opportunity to do more on the farm transition side — as far as having the next generation take over for those currently involved in the industry,” he said.

Why it matters: Modern farms in Western Canada are big business, making the stakes for farm succession planning equally daunting.

The new terms allow disbursements to the seller over a period up to 10 years. The loan can be used by farms, agribusiness or food businesses who are changing ownership, inside or outside a family.

Sellers have their payments guaranteed by FCC and support the next farming generation, while buyers dodge the need to have enough up-front capital for a down payment, the lender says.

For people looking to start or expand operations, the transition loan allows FCC to finance the full purchase price of the transaction and would allow that new entrant, or someone new to the industry, to potentially build equity faster than a standard loan, assuming they can eat the cost of accelerated principal payment. Or, the new owner can choose a path that prioritizes cash flow, making interest-only payments and using the extra money to invest in other parts of the business, especially if they’re in the early stages of starting their business or farm, said Brisebois.

It gives those buying into the business flexibility, according to FCC.

The loan terms also include access to FCC’s AgExpert farm management and accounting software.

The resources tab on the FCC website includes a transition loan calculator allowing people to run different scenarios in the equity-building pathway or the interest-only pathway.

Farm succession wave

The next few years could be big ones for farm transitions.

Brisbois said there is about $50 billion in assets to be transferred over the next ten years.

“We want to be able to provide solutions to help in the transfer of those assets.”

—Updated July 18, 2025. Earlier version said $50 billion in assets would be transferred in the next five years.

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