The average value of farmland in Canada is continuing to rise faster than farmers’ ability to generate revenue from it, Farm Credit Canada’s latest Farmland Values Report suggests. The report, released Monday, shows the average value of Canadian farmland rose 5.2 per cent in 2019 over 2018, the smallest year-over-year increase since 2010, and down […] Read more
Tag Archives farm income — page 4
Canadian farmland trending less affordable in FCC report
Average values continue rising across board
Canadian farm equipment sales drop as net farm income plunges
Trade barriers, poor growing conditions and rising costs take bite from income
Canadian farmers are feeling the financial pinch of lost markets and rising expenses after a prolonged period of prosperity, according to recently published statistics. Net farm income plummeted 46 per cent (in constant 2012 dollars) in 2018 after seven years of above-average incomes. The outlook for 2019 is equally grim. Why it matters: As the […] 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
China, drought, debt shake Canadian farm finances
Winnipeg/Ottawa | Reuters — For years, the financial stability of Canadian farmers was the envy of their U.S. counterparts, but rising costs, drought and a dispute with China have weakened their bottom lines. Net incomes plunged last year, and that setback was followed in March by China’s halting purchases of canola, Canada’s biggest crop. Now […] Read more
New Trump aid plan for U.S. farmers to rely on direct payments
Washington | Reuters — The Trump administration’s second package of aid for U.S. farmers hit by the trade war with China is expected to have a similar structure to last year’s program, using direct payments and commodity purchases, industry sources briefed on the plan said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is still finalizing the plan, […] Read more
Farm households earning more – but is it coming from the farm?
Changes in farm structure and rural opportunities have boosted the income of Canadians who live on farms
Canadian farm family incomes have pulled ahead of other Canadian households by a large margin, but it may have more to do with off-farm revenue sources than it does higher returns from farming. The median income reported by farm households is now 17.3 per cent more than the median recorded by non-farm workers, which is […] Read more
Trump’s tariff war threatens to erode support of farmers
Chicago | Reuters — President Donald Trump’s tariff battle with key buyers of U.S. apples, soybeans and corn threatens the support of some of his biggest backers — U.S. farmers now seeing their livelihoods in jeopardy. Farmers overwhelmingly supported Trump in the 2016 election, welcoming how he championed rural economies and vowed to repeal estate […] Read more
Farm sales to co-ops to count for small business deduction
Changes to federal tax law that were meant to block “multiplication” of the small business deduction for corporations won’t apply to farmers’ sales to co-operatives. The federal government on Friday released draft amendments to the Income Tax Act, which would allow qualifying farmers and fishers selling to agricultural and fisheries co-operatives to be eligible for […] Read more
Farmers’ debt seen hitting fresh record high
Reuters — Canadian farmers’ debt will likely reach another record high this year, while land appreciation slows and incomes flatten, but the industry is still in strong financial shape, the country’s biggest agriculture lender, Farm Credit Canada, forecast on Tuesday. FCC, the federal Crown ag lending agency, sounded a note of caution for farmers, who […] Read more
Input costs to chip away at farmers’ shrinking income
CNS Canada — An anticipated downturn in farm income and higher input costs mean Canadian producers will be in a tough financial position this year, the head of the National Farmers Union (NFU) predicts. Farmers’ net cash income is expected to move lower in 2016, declining nine per cent to $13.6 billion in 2016, according […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
