A Saskatchewan company that offers farmers cash up front for canola to be grown later is now tentatively bringing its model to the farm mortgage business. Input Capital, which sources canola from Prairie growers through multi-year “streaming” contracts, announced Tuesday it has launched a “mortgage stream” as a pilot project. Input, which set up in […] Read more
Canola ‘streaming’ firm eyes mortgage business
Wildfire-damaged grazing areas up for Saskatchewan aid
Saskatchewan’s provincial disaster assistance program (PDAP) will be opened up to cover southwestern grazing areas damaged by this fall’s wildfires. The province’s government relations minister, Larry Doke, on Wednesday announced producers who incurred wildfire damage on “tame and native lands” intended for grazing may now apply for assistance to get feed for affected livestock. Winds […] Read more
Ukraine’s parliament extends ban on farmland sales
Kiev | Reuters — The Ukrainian parliament voted on Thursday to extend a ban on the sale of agricultural land by one year, delaying what financial backers say is a key reform essential to Ukraine’s long-term economic growth. The bill was backed by 236 lawmakers, narrowly over the 226 required to pass. Currently Ukraine’s more […] Read more
Nova Scotia to help black residents get land titles
London | Thomson Reuters Foundation — Historic black communities in Nova Scotia will be given funds to establish legal ownership of land where they have lived for generations, the government said, in a drive to solve what critics call a case of long-running discrimination. The provincial government will spend $2.7 million over two years to […] Read more
Want free farmland? Grab your parka and head North
Toronto / Thomson Reuters Foundation – In Canada’s far north, the government of Yukon Territory wants to attract small farmers to the frigid region with a simple pitch: free land. And as global warming makes Canada’s northern regions more hospitable to agriculture by opening once frozen land to farming, the opportunities are growing. Bordering on Alaska […] Read more
Don’t let that pretty quarter section turn your head
Spring is a busy time for farmland sales, but make sure you don’t wind up with buyer’s regret
Reading Time: < 1 minute Spring is a prime time for buying land, but don’t rush into a purchase, says a provincial farm financial specialist. “With farmland prices continuing to appreciate, a well-researched financial and ownership plan will guard against ill-prepared land purchases,” said Rick Dehod. “So do your homework before making a final decision.” Read more: FCC sees increase […] Read more
Quebec’s winter trails to remain open as tax reform halted
Snowmobile trails going through farmland owned by members of Quebec’s Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA) will remain open as the province hits the brakes on changes to its farmland property tax credit plan. UPA members had recently pledged to revoke previously-permitted access to their land for snowmobile trails starting Monday (Feb. 6) in a dispute […] Read more
Brazil to open farmland, airlines to foreign buyers
Brasilia | Reuters — President Michel Temer will propose legislation to lift restrictions on foreign ownership of airlines and agricultural land in Brazil as he strives to pull the economy out of a two-year recession, government sources said on Monday. Temer’s centre-right government plans to send Congress a bill allowing 100 per cent foreign ownership […] Read more
The lure of free land is drawing in a new type of homesteader
There is no shortage of young people wanting to be farmers, and some communities are tapping into that with offers of free or cheap land
Reading Time: 3 minutes Homesteaders. They came on the promise of free land. They stayed because they could not afford to turn back and root by root created the origin of the western agricultural world. The era of horses and pickaxes seems like a long time ago, but the reality is that free land is still very real in […] Read more
Quebec service to match farmland sellers, young buyers
The Quebec and federal governments are putting up funds for a different kind of online match site: one to connect aspiring young farmers with producers who are either retiring or wanting to sell or rent farmland. The two governments on Tuesday announced $300,000 for the Centre de reference en agriculture et agroalimentaire du Quebec (CRAAQ) […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
