Reading Time: 7 minutes Input costs. Tariffs. Commodity prices. A lot of variables are moving quickly this season, and mostly not in the right direction. Monday’s short-term cash forecast scenarios are out of date by Friday, and long-term projections are anyone’s guess. What can Canadian farmers do in the short run to protect profits (and sanity) in this uncertain […] Read more
How farms can cut expenses
As we roll into the busy season, here’s a hard look at where to cut what’s inflating your expenses and eating into your profits
Summer Series: Assessing your farm’s financial horsepower
[Change Management] It’s going to pay to keep your financials in order in 2024, and beyond
Reading Time: 3 minutes Every year, we go through harvest with our grain. Then there comes a harvest season of a different sort — the bookkeeping and the accounting that needs to get caught up to “close the books.” Unfortunately, some accountants can get backed up like grain terminals in winter. Farm files trickle in until eventually the accountant’s […] Read more
Inflation takes a bite
Should we worry if the prices Canadians pay at the checkout influence what they think of farmers?
Reading Time: 3 minutes When a television reporter recently tweeted a photo of a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the meat department at Loblaws with a price tag of $37, the backlash was swift. The responses ranged from “eat less meat” to a less polite “let it rot on the shelf,” and they all had one thing […] Read more
Deciding on a charitable giving plan
Donation, bequest, endowment? Farm families can achieve a huge amount of good with their generosity, but be sure to plan it carefully
Reading Time: 6 minutes As more farm families get further into their transition and succession planning, charitable giving is becoming a critical part for many to incorporate into their plans. On more and more farms, in fact, questions surrounding meaningful donations and how to create impact are becoming cornerstone conversations for the family. “Farmers are deeply rooted in their […] Read more
The story of high prices
Return on investment is driving a rise in farmland purchases by non-farmers that looks like it’s here to stay. Is that bad? Or good?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Farmland’s reputation as a safe and profitable asset seems sure to draw more investment dollars into rural Canada, whether farmers are happy about the extra demand for their number one source of wealth or not. A look at Calgary-based investment fund Veripath Farmland Partners and its 90,000-acre row crop portfolio shows why. Farmland is just […] Read more
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
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
A word about your farm
Financial fluency is paying off for farms who learn the lingo
Reading Time: 7 minutes A growing number of financial advisors are talking a different language today than they were 10 or 15 years ago. Increasingly they see that the financial health of the farm goes way beyond the numbers on the balance sheet or income statement. They know those numbers are underpinned by some basic fundamentals that require sound […] Read more
From bad to worse, to better again
How one farm couple and their financial advisor restructured significant debt to dig them out of dire financial circumstances
Reading Time: 6 minutes Art Lange, left, walks the field edge and says that in an ideal world, every farm would make money every year and every farm manager would always make the best financial decisions. But it’s not a perfect world. Well-kept financial records help. So do staying on top of production costs and following a budget, but […] Read more
How to make your kids more financially literate
Don’t overlook how powerful it is to teach your children about managing money on the farm
Reading Time: 4 minutes Financial literacy is essential for everyone, but it is particularly critical for farmers. Defined as “the ability to use knowledge and skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being,” it’s a must in modern agriculture. Parents agree. They want their children to be financially independent. Yet Stephanie Szusz, who works in […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
