MarketsFarm — Two major national farm organizations want the political parties to pay more attention to agriculture as the federal election continues. However, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) have somewhat different takes as to what they see as paramount. “It’s really important that we uphold the quality of […] Read more
Election 2019: Ag groups want the parties to pay attention
Trump threatens new tariffs as U.S.-China trade tensions spike again
Washington | Reuters – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday moved to impose a 10 percent tariff on a remaining $300 billion list of Chinese imports starting Sept. 1, after U.S. and Chinese negotiators failed to kickstart trade talks between the world’s two largest economies. The levies – which would hit a wide swath of […] Read more
Agriculture continues to boost Alberta economy
Reading Time: < 1 minute Primary agriculture along with food and beverage manufacturing pumped $8.5 billion into Alberta’s economy in 2018, but was little changed from a year earlier. The GDP for the province’s primary agriculture industry declined 3.3 per cent to $5.2 billion, while food and beverage manufacturing rose 3.3 per cent to $3.4 billion in 2018, said Jean […] Read more
Red-hot land market shows signs of cooling
Prices have soared for nearly a decade but that trend may be coming to an end
Reading Time: 4 minutes The price of Alberta farmland took another big jump last year — but there are strong signs the red-hot bull market is finally cooling off. Overall, Canadian acres saw their smallest price increase in nearly a decade, and the amount of land changing hands dropped as many would-be buyers either stayed on the sidelines or […] Read more
Buckle up: Here’s your economic forecast for 2019
Canada’s top ag economist has the lowdown on the economy, trade, interest rates, and your income
Reading Time: 4 minutes What’s the forecast for Canadian ag? How about murky with a good chance of turbulence? ‘Headwinds’ was the phrase du jour when the country’s foremost ag economist came by FarmTech late last month. “There are lots of good things going on in the industry, but lots of headwinds as well — trade tensions, weather, excess […] Read more
Data is too important to be left in the hands of others
Canada relies on the U.S for critical agricultural data, and that leaves us extraordinarily vulnerable
Reading Time: 3 minutes Vulnerability is a word that I have taken to heart a lot in the past few years. We are vulnerable when we change, or seek change; vulnerable when we are left open to volatile weather or markets; and in agriculture, we are extraordinarily vulnerable when we are without data. The partial shutdown of the U.S. […] Read more
Consider hedging against rate hikes, farmers advised
CNS Canada — The Bank of Canada has raised its benchmark interest rate to 1.5 per cent, marking the fourth time it has raised rates since last summer. The increase from 1.25 per cent is the base rate retail banks pay for short-term loans, but consumer rates for mortgages, lines of credit and other loans […] Read more
Iron backlog has come and gone
It’s taken a few years, but dealers have finally whittled down high inventories of equipment
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two years ago, you couldn’t drive past an equipment dealership without noticing the rows upon rows of machines — carry-over of anticipated demand that never came. “In 2013 and 2014, everybody was firing on all cylinders,” said Leah Olson, president of the Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada. “With our record harvests, there was a fundamental shift […] Read more
Alberta GDP numbers rise across the board
Reading Time: < 1 minute The real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Alberta’s agri-food industry rose by 2.5 per cent in 2017 to $6.5 billion. The province accounts for 12.5 per cent of the country’s agri-food GDP, and is in third spot nationally (after Ontario and Quebec). The GDP for the province’s primary agriculture industry increased 1.9 per cent to […] Read more
Steel tariffs could rebound on farmers here
It’s not clear what impact tariffs will have on farm equipment but any increase will likely be passed on
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s unclear if the new steel tariff proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump could be bad news for Canadian producers when it comes time to buy new farm equipment. If the tariffs are imposed, U.S. manufacturing companies would pay 25 per cent more for imported steel and 10 per cent more for imported aluminum, unless […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
