The company owes $5.067 million to the 181 creditors listed in bankruptcy filings released Nov. 26. Many of the creditors are farmers who sold grain through Agfinity but were never paid. Employees out their last paycheques are also listed in the filing. Listed assets totalled $162,593.

MNP Ltd. has been appointed as the Licensed Insolvency Trustee. Creditors can contact MNP to complete a proof of claim prior to a meeting of creditors scheduled to take place via teleconference on Dec. 16. The meeting is a formality in the bankruptcy process, with the purpose of affirming the trustee’s appointment, appointing inspectors to the bankrupt estate and providing direction to the trustee.

While Agfinity had once operated as a typical grain broker — matching buyers and sellers through broker notes but never handling any money directly aside from their fee — in recent years the company began using grain purchase contracts where they took the payment from the buyer and paid the seller later. In a July blog post, Agfinity’s president Joseph Billett said the newer contracts were necessary to support cash flow due to narrow margins. However, the company was unable to generate enough trade volumes to match costs.

In a draft letter to be sent to creditors provided by Billett, he acknowledged mistakes made over the past year and offered “sincerest apologies for the pain and stress this situation has caused.”

The post Agfinity declares bankruptcy appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“We’re constantly looking for new ways to bring Canadian farmers the expertise they need to succeed,” said Marvin Slingerland, MNP’s senior vice president, agriculture, said in a news release.

MNP said it will join forces with 4R Agronomy, Annex Agro, Arrow Crop Management, Elite Ag, Max Ag Consulting and Sure Growth Solutions. Calgary-based consulting firm Convergence Growth will lead the agronomy practice.

All the agronomy companies will stay in their current locations while connecting with MNP’s 125 offices across the country, including 47 Prairie locations, MNP said.

“We all saw the huge potential to quickly scale up our agronomy services and provide even more Canadian farmers with the critical support they need to succeed,” said Warren Bills, CEO and co-founder of Convergence Growth.

Bills is also listed as an “agri-coach” on Sure Growth Solutions’ website.

“There are more than 34,000 farms in Canada that exceed 1,120 acres in size, many of which need specialized agronomic advice,” he said.

Fewer than 20 per cent of these farms use professional agronomy services, he added.

Bills had already been in talks with the six agronomy companies about joining forces when MNP entered the picture, the news release said.

The geographic spread of the merging-in firms—which collectively manage about1.5 million acres, is part of MNP’s strategy to reach farms, said Tanya Knight, MNP’s executive vice president of clients and services.

“These mergers are really about helping us to reach and support more Canadian farmers with their journeys and so we’re delighted to welcome all six businesses into the MNP family,” she said.

The post MNP to launch agronomy practice appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Fertilizer Canada, the group representing manufacturers, wholesale and retail distributors for nitrogen, phosphate, potash and sulphur, on Monday warned “cutting fertilizer applications to meet the federal government fertilizer emissions targets could reduce farm income by $48 billion over the next eight years.”

That figure — $48.36 billion over the years 2023 to 2030 — comes from the summary of a report the group commissioned from consultancy and accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny (MNP).

The figure covers Canada’s production of three crops — spring wheat, canola and corn — and isn’t specifically based on Canada’s proposed target for cuts in fertilizer emissions, but rather a separate target proposed for the European Union.

“If Canada adopted the EU model, the potential economic impact of reduced fertilizer use would be devastating to Canadian farmers,” Fertilizer Canada said in Monday’s release.

“The EU model” refers to a target laid out in the “EU Green Deal,” proposing to reduce “nutrient losses” of nitrogen and phosphorus by at least 50 per cent by 2030.

According to a November 2020 report prepared for the European Parliament’s committee on agriculture and rural development, that target would “reduce the use of fertilizers by at least 20 per cent by 2030.”

Canada’s latest proposal on fertilizers, meanwhile, comes from its December 2020 climate plan, “A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy.” That document calls for a national emission reduction target from fertilizers — cutting those emissions 30 per cent below 2020 levels.

The federal government, in the document, said it would “work with fertilizer manufacturers, farmers, provinces and territories, to develop an approach to meet” that target.

The Canadian document said direct emissions tied to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer application have increased by about 60 per cent since 2005 and are projected to keep increasing.

“Improving how fertilizers are used through better products and practices will save farmers money and time, and help protect Canada’s land and water,” the federal document said — though it didn’t specify whether, or how much of, its 30 per cent cut would be achieved through reduced fertilizer rates.

‘Adjustments’

MNP’s report, based on the EU proposal, models a 20 per cent rate reduction for the years 2023 to 2030, and focuses on the effects for corn, canola and spring wheat in Canada.

The results are based on a similar number of acres for the three crops using the five-year average; a straight-line reduction of fertilizer use starting in 2023; a straight-line reduction in yield based on industry yield response estimates for each crop; no inflation effects; and no effects of reduced crop supplies on crop prices until 2030.

A straight-line reduction in fertilizer usage, MNP said, “results in increased differences of actual yields versus potential yields if the status quo had been continued.”

By 2030, yield gaps for the three crops are estimated at 23.6 bushels per acre per year for canola, 67.9 bushels per acre per year for corn, and 36.1 per acre per year bushels per acre for spring wheat.

Given constant prices, MNP said, the total value of lost production for those three crops rises from $1.8 billion in 2023 up to $10.4 billion by 2030 — in all, $48.36 billion over the eight crop years in question.

To meet a 20 per cent reduction in fertilizer rates, “there may be adjustments forced on farmers’ practices that will have varying degrees of net impact on farmers,” MNP wrote.

“This report is however based on the assumptions of continued farming practices (including crop rotation) as they are today to reflect the possibility of farmers accepting the lower production that lost nutrients would have on the production levels of their crops.”

‘Holistic approach’

“When the federal government announced a 30 per cent emission reduction target for on-farm fertilizer use it did so without consulting — the provinces, the agricultural sector or any key stakeholders — on the feasibility of such a target,” Fertilizer Canada CEO Karen Proud said in the group’s release Monday.

Fertilizer Canada said the industry has been working to limit on-farm emissions for over a decade by way of its 4R Nutrient Stewardship program, which aims to “optimize plant nutrient uptake, and increase yields, while achieving verifiable reductions in emissions.”

“We do not have to choose between the environment and the economy,” Proud said in Monday’s release. “By choosing 4R Nutrient Stewardship, as the foundation to a holistic approach to on-farm emissions reductions, the agricultural sector and the government can work together to meet our environmental goals, while at the same time supporting our farmers.”

“Farmers don’t need the government to tell them how to properly use fertilizer,” Gunter Jochum, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers, said in a separate release Monday citing the MNP report. “We engage crop consultants, soil tests and use the latest technology available to us. Our government should be strongly supporting the agronomic techniques that we have put into practice.”

The Wheat Growers, in their release, break down the MNP data to show, by 2030, a $4.61 billion loss in Saskatchewan growers’ canola and spring wheat crops; a $2.95 billion loss for Alberta canola and spring wheat; and a $1.58 billion loss for Manitoba canola, corn and spring wheat.

“The Canadian government must recognize that innovation is best driven by the farmers and organizations that support them,” the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers said in a separate release Thursday, also citing the MNP report.

“The proposed Canadian mandate will lesson our country’s ability to compete on the global market by increasing cost of production and reducing yield.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post Mandated cuts in fertilizer use could be costly for Canada, report warns appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Fertilizer Canada, the group representing manufacturers, wholesale and retail distributors for nitrogen, phosphate, potash and sulphur, on Monday warned “cutting fertilizer applications to meet the federal government fertilizer emissions targets could reduce farm income by $48 billion over the next eight years.”

That figure — $48.36 billion over the years 2023 to 2030 — comes from the summary of a report the group commissioned from consultancy and accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny (MNP).

The figure covers Canada’s production of three crops — spring wheat, canola and corn — and isn’t specifically based on Canada’s proposed target for cuts in fertilizer emissions, but rather a separate target proposed for the European Union.

“If Canada adopted the EU model, the potential economic impact of reduced fertilizer use would be devastating to Canadian farmers,” Fertilizer Canada said in Monday’s release.

“The EU model” refers to a target laid out in the “EU Green Deal,” proposing to reduce “nutrient losses” of nitrogen and phosphorus by at least 50 per cent by 2030.

According to a November 2020 report prepared for the European Parliament’s committee on agriculture and rural development, that target would “reduce the use of fertilizers by at least 20 per cent by 2030.”

Canada’s latest proposal on fertilizers, meanwhile, comes from its December 2020 climate plan, “A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy.” That document calls for a national emission reduction target from fertilizers — cutting those emissions 30 per cent below 2020 levels.

The federal government, in the document, said it would “work with fertilizer manufacturers, farmers, provinces and territories, to develop an approach to meet” that target.

The Canadian document said direct emissions tied to synthetic nitrogen fertilizer application have increased by about 60 per cent since 2005 and are projected to keep increasing.

“Improving how fertilizers are used through better products and practices will save farmers money and time, and help protect Canada’s land and water,” the federal document said — though it didn’t specify whether, or how much of, its 30 per cent cut would be achieved through reduced fertilizer rates.

‘Adjustments’

MNP’s report, based on the EU proposal, models a 20 per cent rate reduction for the years 2023 to 2030, and focuses on the effects for corn, canola and spring wheat in Canada.

The results are based on a similar number of acres for the three crops using the five-year average; a straight-line reduction of fertilizer use starting in 2023; a straight-line reduction in yield based on industry yield response estimates for each crop; no inflation effects; and no effects of reduced crop supplies on crop prices until 2030.

A straight-line reduction in fertilizer usage, MNP said, “results in increased differences of actual yields versus potential yields if the status quo had been continued.”

By 2030, yield gaps for the three crops are estimated at 23.6 bushels per acre per year for canola, 67.9 bushels per acre per year for corn, and 36.1 per acre per year bushels per acre for spring wheat.

Given constant prices, MNP said, the total value of lost production for those three crops rises from $1.8 billion in 2023 up to $10.4 billion by 2030 — in all, $48.36 billion over the eight crop years in question.

To meet a 20 per cent reduction in fertilizer rates, “there may be adjustments forced on farmers’ practices that will have varying degrees of net impact on farmers,” MNP wrote.

“This report is however based on the assumptions of continued farming practices (including crop rotation) as they are today to reflect the possibility of farmers accepting the lower production that lost nutrients would have on the production levels of their crops.”

‘Holistic approach’

“When the federal government announced a 30 per cent emission reduction target for on-farm fertilizer use it did so without consulting — the provinces, the agricultural sector or any key stakeholders — on the feasibility of such a target,” Fertilizer Canada CEO Karen Proud said in the group’s release Monday.

Fertilizer Canada said the industry has been working to limit on-farm emissions for over a decade by way of its 4R Nutrient Stewardship program, which aims to “optimize plant nutrient uptake, and increase yields, while achieving verifiable reductions in emissions.”

“We do not have to choose between the environment and the economy,” Proud said in Monday’s release. “By choosing 4R Nutrient Stewardship, as the foundation to a holistic approach to on-farm emissions reductions, the agricultural sector and the government can work together to meet our environmental goals, while at the same time supporting our farmers.”

“Farmers don’t need the government to tell them how to properly use fertilizer,” Gunter Jochum, president of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers, said in a separate release Monday citing the MNP report. “We engage crop consultants, soil tests and use the latest technology available to us. Our government should be strongly supporting the agronomic techniques that we have put into practice.”

The Wheat Growers, in their release, break down the MNP data to show, by 2030, a $4.61 billion loss in Saskatchewan growers’ canola and spring wheat crops; a $2.95 billion loss for Alberta canola and spring wheat; and a $1.58 billion loss for Manitoba canola, corn and spring wheat.

“The Canadian government must recognize that innovation is best driven by the farmers and organizations that support them,” the Canadian Association of Agri-Retailers said in a separate release Thursday, also citing the MNP report.

“The proposed Canadian mandate will lesson our country’s ability to compete on the global market by increasing cost of production and reducing yield.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network

The post Mandated cuts in fertilizer use could be costly for Canada, report warns appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

Organic Meadow Co-operative announced Monday it had filed for creditor protection “in order to complete a restructuring of its operations.”

The company said its hand was forced by “onerous business terms recently placed upon it” by Dairy Farmers of Ontario, the provincial milk marketing agency.

DFO, in documents filed Tuesday by MNP as Organic Meadow’s insolvency trustee, is listed as an unsecured creditor of Organic Meadow Ltd., owed $850,000.

In a separate statement Monday, DFO said it “had been working with Organic Meadow for a substantial period of time in an effort to assist it with growing its market” but “must also ensure Ontario farmers receive compensation for the milk they produce and sell.”

While the amount owing is unsecured, DFO said it “will ensure that the organic producers are paid for the milk that DFO delivered” and will dip into its bad debt protection fund to cover those payments if need be.

Neither Organic Meadow nor DFO said in their statements what specific terms had changed in their business arrangement. Organic Meadow CEO Don Rees, in the company’s release, said the protection filing “is about protecting the earned rights of the founding farmers of the organic dairy category in Ontario.”

The company, he said, plans to “work with the milk marketing board and all of our creditors to put a restructuring plan in place that allows us to emerge from this process stronger, and which allows us to work with (DFO) in growing the organic milk market we started in 1989.”

“Impossible hurdles”

The co-op’s dairy farmer members are all “disappointed that we could not find a resolution which would have enabled the co-operative to continue conducting business without the need for creditor protection,” co-operative vice-chairman and organic dairyman Ted Minten said in the same release.

Organic Meadow’s “new business model was beginning to significantly improve our results and we were well along a process to bring in a new investor group,” he said.

However, “substantial milk allocation shortfalls in the December-to-February period and the change to business terms by our largest vendor were impossible hurdles for us to overcome.”

However, Minten said, the company will continue to operate as usual during the restructuring process, and DFO said it “has arranged to supply milk (to Organic Meadow) during the restructuring process.”

Organic Meadow Ltd.’s other major listed creditors include RBC Royal Bank, owed $1.4 million; Ontario dairy firm Elite Dairy, owed over $224,000; Lac-Megantic, Que.-based cheese firm Fromages La Chaudiere, owed over $183,000; and dairy giant Saputo, owed over $129,000.

Another related company, Organic Meadow, Inc., is in protection under the same filing and is listed as owing $9.3 million to an arm of Calgary-based Avrio Capital and $3.21 million to Farm Credit Canada.

Also under the same filing, Organic Meadow Co-operative Inc. is listed as owing almost $700,000 by way of over three dozen “member loans” from parties including individual farmers, farm corporations and Amish colonies, in amounts ranging between $5,000 and $100,000 per loan.

Organic Meadow Inc. is also listed as owing $2.43 million to Organic Meadow Co-operative, while Organic Meadow Ltd. is listed as owing $3.1 million to Organic Meadow Inc. — AGCanada.com Network

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Sure it does — if you can find the areas of the field that need it, suggests a recent financial analysis of variable-rate technology (VRT) conducted in Lethbridge.

“The more fertilizer you put on, the better results you get,” said Mark Wobick, a farm management consultant with MNP. “But is there a financial benefit to finding areas of the field that would benefit from more fertilizer or less? Yes, but the trick is finding those areas of the field.”

MNP conducted a margin analysis study based on data from an Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development research project on variable-rate fertilizer. The analysis looked at whether there was a financial benefit to applying more fertilizer, as well as varying the rate of fertilizer.

The results were “variable.”

“When we looked at the results here, they were very inconsistent,” said Wobick, who will be giving a presentation on the study at Agronomy Update 2015 in Lethbridge on Jan. 20.

“There’s no real clear pattern in the data.”

If producers can find areas in their fields that “deserve a different treatment,” there is a benefit, said Wobick — but the benefit may not outweigh the costs of variable-rate technology.

“Once you find those areas of the field, is the benefit worth the specialized equipment or the consulting fee? In some cases, yes, and in some cases, no, but there was no real clear pattern,” he said.

“In some cases, there was a benefit, and in others, the costs were higher. It’s not a slam dunk one way or the other.”

Some results from the study do “jump out” though, said Wobick.

The analysis showed that, more than variable-rate technology, “the basics” had a greater impact on the bottom line.

“You really need to get the basics right first,” he said. “That’s making sure you’re growing the right crop, making sure you have the agronomy right, and making sure you manage the risk of the commodity price and the fertilizer price.

“Both those things can fluctuate and have a far greater impact on your business than putting a whole lot of effort into finding places in the field that may or may not benefit from some variable rate.”

Wobick cautions that the analysis is based on only one set of data and may not speak to wider industry results. Even so, each producer needs to consider whether variable-rate technology is a good fit for their individual farm based on their management and finances, he said.

“I think they need to think critically before they jump in with two feet into VRT,” said Wobick.

“It’s important to walk before you run.”

The post Payoff from variable-rate technology is variable appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.