Chicago | Reuters — A storm packing hurricane-force winds on Monday impacted 37.7 million acres of farmland across the Midwest, including 14 million in Iowa, the Iowa Soybean Association said on Friday, citing estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The toll from the derecho storm has worsened as farmers and grain handlers have spent […] Read more
Monday’s storm hit an estimated 37.7 million acres in U.S. Midwest
Kazakhstan’s president says farmland won’t be sold to foreigners
Almaty | Reuters — Kazakhstan will permanently ban sales of agricultural land to foreigners, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Friday, ending a long-running discussion about controversial land reform plans. Provisions that would have allowed foreign ownership of farmland prompted public protests throughout Kazakhstan in 2016. The government decided at the time to put off the […] Read more
Tighter regulations take effect for B.C. farmland reserve
Local governments' expanded role to take effect this fall
New regulations governing how — or if — changes can be made to land’s status within British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) are now in force, but local governments get more prep time for their expanded role. The province on Thursday announced amendments to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) Act — having received royal assent […] Read more
Zimbabwe offers land as compensation for 800 seized farms
Harare | Reuters — Zimbabwe’s government will offer land as compensation for nearly 800 farms it seized under its land acquisition policy since 2000, according to regulations published on Thursday. Under former President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe took over some 5,000 farms, mostly from white farmers, saying the policy was meant to address colonial imbalances. But […] Read more
Gaza farmers return to lands along volatile Israeli border
Gaza | Reuters — Returning to his fields for the first time in 14 years, Palestinian farmer Naser Abu Isaeed surveyed the toll taken by conflict on formerly productive soil. “I saw an empty area full of holes and dry weeds,” said Abu Isaeed, who once grew fruit on the tracts along Gaza’s volatile border […] Read more
Machinery costs driving up fixed farming expenses
MarketsFarm — Fixed costs on farms continue to rise year-over-year, a statistic largely attributed to increasing land values and interest rates. At the beginning of 2019, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) reported farmland values across Canada increased by an average of 6.6 per cent during the previous year. But that’s not the main driver of fixed […] Read more
Ukrainian lawmakers vote to lift ban on sale of farmland by 2020
Kiev | Reuters — Ukrainian lawmakers voted Wednesday to remove a ban on the sale of farmland for the first time in nearly two decades, a move supported by the country’s foreign backers that risks a political backlash. The proposal must be voted on a second time to come into force. The ban would be […] Read more
Landowners’ rights in danger of being eroded, says advocate
Energy association wants review process streamlined, which could limit the ability to raise concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes A growing number of abandoned energy leases in Alberta might make farmers wonder if it’s worth allowing an energy company to come onto their land in the first place. However, a “pro-oil and gas regulatory environment” may make it more difficult to express concern over proposed energy projects, says Daryl Bennett, a director with the […] Read more
Ukraine president plans farmland reform, large privatizations
Kiev | Reuters — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy ordered his new government to submit a draft law for land market reform by the start of October and to prepare large-scale privatizations of state companies starting in April next year. Zelenskiy has pledged to lift a longstanding ban on the sale of farmland, a move that […] Read more
Farm equity growth slows in 2018
MarketsFarm — Equity in Canada’s farm sector increased by 3.6 per cent in 2018, hitting $522.2 billion, according to a report Thursday from Statistics Canada. The growth was well below the 6.4 per cent increase reported the previous year, and continued a trend of slower growth since 2013. Realized net farm income was down by […] Read more
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