Real estate apps are already big business in residential markets. If they cut transaction costs, why not in agriculture too?
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U.S. Lawmakers seek to limit corporate, foreign ownership of farmland

Farm groups, lawmakers are concerned that foreign, investor ownership is driving up prices and threatening national security

Washington | Reuters – U.S. lawmakers from both parties are pushing legislation that would limit who can own American farmland, with a latest effort from Democratic Senator Cory Booker aimed at curbing corporate ownership. Farm groups and lawmakers are concerned that land buys by investors and foreign countries are driving up farmland prices and threatening


File photo of a rye field in Kazakhstan. (Stsmhn/iStock/Getty Images)

Kazakhstan’s president orders ban on foreign ownership of farmland

Almaty | Reuters — Kazakhstan will permanently ban foreigners from owning or renting farmland in the vast central Asian nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Thursday, ending a lengthy dispute that once prompted anti-government protests. Kazakhstan is a major producer of grains, oilseeds and meat in the former Soviet region sandwiched between China and Russia

Tighter regulations take effect for B.C. farmland reserve

Tighter regulations take effect for B.C. farmland reserve

Local governments' expanded role to take effect this fall

New regulations governing how — or if — changes can be made to land’s status within British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) are now in force, but local governments get more prep time for their expanded role. The province on Thursday announced amendments to the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) Act — having received royal assent

Keystone Agricultural Producers says new drainage regulations are just more of the same and are a "big disappointment."

KAP unhappy with new drainage regulations

Manitoba’s general farm organization was expecting rules that would let farmers manage water better and help protect wetlands

The Manitoba government’s new drainage regulations, which came into effect Oct. 2 are a “big disappointment,” says Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) vice-president Mitch Janssens. “We were trying to convince them to dangle the carrot to create more beneficial wetlands, but also allow producers to improve their land. That’s not what we got. That’s where the big disappointment is. We


Rising farmland prices puts agriculture at risk

That’s what the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry says in a recent report

Higher farmland prices make it harder for young farmers to get into farming and or expand, but they have options, says J.P. Gervais, Farm Credit Canada’s vice-president and chief agricultural economist. “I do believe now there are more options for young producers in terms of getting involved in different supply chains that don’t necessarily require

Annette Desmarais, Canada Research chair in Human Rights, Social Justice and Food Sovereignty presented findings of a study on farmland tenure patterns in Saskatchewan during the Keystone Agricultural Producers annual general meeting.

Not farming? Pay up

Researcher wants to track land tenure throughout the Prairies

To keep more farmland in the hands of farmers, put a levy on sales of it to those who buy land but don’t plan farming it themselves. That’s a proposal put forward as a resolution at Keystone Agricultural Producers’ annual general meeting and supported by delegates last month. This would be a support to younger

Zimbabwe to give white farmers 99-year leases

Harare | Reuters — Zimbabwe will issue 99-year leases to white farmers, according to a government circular, after new President Emmerson Mnangagwa said he would end discrimination along racial lines in agriculture. Fewer than 400 white farmers are still operating in the southern African nation, after former president Robert Mugabe’s government evicted more than 4,000


The Verkhovna Rada building, home to Ukraine’s parliament, in Kiev. (Cia.gov)

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

VIDEO: Getting down to your roots

VIDEO: Getting down to your roots

Crop Diagnostic School offered a cutaway view of how crop roots move through soil

Along with her colleagues, Marla Riekman, land management specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, took up a shovel last month at Crop Diagnostic School to help show what’s going on underground with roots. Allan Dawson met up with Riekman to learn about the types of root systems in crops, how they extract nutrients from the soil, the effects of