No big surprises in livestock report

No big surprises in livestock report

But a jump in the number of replacement heifers is a promising sign for the future

Reading Time: < 1 minute There were few surprises in Statistics Canada’s latest Canadian livestock inventory estimates, says provincial livestock market analyst Jason Wood. “Due to lower domestic slaughter and exports, inventory estimates reported a marginal increase in Canadian cattle,” said Wood. “In Alberta, total cattle inventories saw a 0.4 per cent increase, while hogs increased 1.7 per cent in […] Read more


Farmers tangled in red tape

Reading Time: < 1 minute Government rules and paperwork hit farmers harder than other small business owners, according to a survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Three in four farmers surveyed cited government regulation and paperwork as serious concerns for their business, versus 69 per cent of businesses in other sectors. Among the “alphabet soup of regulations and […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan stocks numbers confirm rapid export pace

CNS Canada — Canada’s grain and oilseed exports appear to be in fine form, based on the latest stocks figures on Thursday morning from Statistics Canada. Stocks of wheat, canola and oats are all down compared to last year’s. In wheat’s case, there were roughly five million fewer tonnes in farmers’ bins at the end […] Read more



Rising land prices have made leaseback financing an attractive option for young farmers, says Bonnefield president Tom Eisenhauer.

Investor says land-grab fears not justified

Bonnefield Financial has raised more than $300 million to buy and lease back Canadian farmland

Reading Time: 5 minutes We’ve all heard it: rumblings in coffee shops and at conferences about land grabbers buying up good farmland. And those rumblings have only grown louder over the past few years, as investors such as the Canadian Pension Plan buy large parcels of cropland in the Prairies. But by and large, those fears can be put […] Read more

A statistical portrait of Alberta ag

A statistical portrait of Alberta ag

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s Agriculture Statistics Yearbook 2014 is now available. The tables and charts provide both a current and historical perspective, with individual sections on sectors such as crops, livestock, and food and beverages, as well as industry measures and indicators such as farm income, agri-food exports, economic indicators, and the Census of Agriculture. Alberta […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola seesaws with StatsCan report

CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts posted modest losses for the week ended Wednesday, with the January contract falling slightly below the key technical benchmark of $470 per tonne. Still, at least one analyst said he thinks canola is well positioned to climb higher. A bearish Statistics Canada report on Friday pegged canola […] Read more