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Ontario farmland values nearly double national average
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Ontario farmland values nearly double national average

Interest rate effects are present, but delayed

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High commodity prices and pent-up demand for Ontario property continue to raise farmland values despite higher interest rates. Farm Credit Canada’s (FCC) recent mid-year land values report again highlights across-the-board increases in average farmland values, but Ontario figures are nearly double the national average.  FCC analyses highlight an 8.3 per cent increase in farmland values […] Read more
Photo: Thinkstock

China to step up investment in rural infrastructure

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Beijing | Reuters – China will accelerate investment in rural infrastructure to improve its ability to ensure food supply while also stabilizing the economy, according to a plan published by the agriculture ministry on Tuesday. The plan, backed by eight ministries and government agencies, comes amid slowing growth in the world’s second-biggest economy, due to […] Read more
The change in farm size distribution has several crucial implications.
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Opinion: One-size-fits-all policies no longer work

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Canada’s agriculture industry has been undergoing significant changes over the past 45 years. Since the 1970s, the number of farms has been steadily declining, but not all farms have been impacted equally — mid-size farms have been hit the hardest, as the number of small and large farms increases. The mid-size farm category used to cover the majority of agricultural operations. […] Read more
Farm equipment makers are challenged by many factors, most of which stem from COVID-19 in one way or another.
Machinery

Machinery market remains hot, but sales cool

Machinery makers face shortages of parts, supply chain delays, rising costs for labour and transportation as COVID disrupts business

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Glacier FarmMedia – Farm equipment sales are down for Canada and United States, with Canada showing significant reductions from last year on the largest gear. This year, four-wheel drive tractors and combines in Canada saw sales fall 22 per cent from last season at this time. American numbers were better, but followed the same trend, […] Read more
When interest rates were near zero and food and fuel were abundant, problems could be avoided. That’s no longer the case.
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Opinion: Populist politics can have negative impact on debt crisis

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Glacier FarmMedia – Crop and other commodity markets are off their highs, but don’t expect the commodity bull market to go away soon or for its impacts to fade. Prices for food, fuel and other indispensable commodities are still high enough to tip numerous nations into financial trouble, economic hardship, hunger and political strife. A […] Read more
Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil on Aug. 14, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

Market value alone is selling nature short, governments told

Economic valuations needed but 'not sufficient,' co-chair says

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Reuters — What is the value of a river? Is it for the nutritional content of the fish it sustains? The economic benefit of the local livelihoods it supports? Or does the river have its own value which humans cannot measure? Such questions may seem removed from the issues the world faces, from deepening climate […] Read more
You wouldn’t think there would be any major differences between trucking regulations province to province, but there are, and they bog down transportation.
News

Comment: Interprovincial trade barriers like ‘hidden GST’

Easing trade barriers domestically would be beneficial to industry

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Glacier FarmMedia – We spend a lot of time complaining about foreign trade barriers and defending our own barriers to foreign imports. But maybe there’s a closer way to liberalize agriculture trade. “It almost feels like we’ve forgotten to take care of business here at home,” said Jared Carlberg, a University of Manitoba agricultural economist […] Read more
According to Farm Credit Canada, dairy retail price inflation has significantly lagged other grocery items since 2010.
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Editorial: Inflation pressure not a surprise

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There’s not much doubt that we’re into inflationary times with recently reported annual inflation of 4.4 per cent. That means additional risk for farmers to manage along with the supply chain challenges currently roiling the world and the usual headwinds that come with running a farm. The latest indicator that there’s inflation beyond what many […] Read more

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