Canadian, Manitoba farmland values higher in 2019

Canadian, Manitoba farmland values higher in 2019

The yearly growth has slowed in recent seasons and that trend is expected to continue

Average Manitoba farmland values rose four per cent in 2019, just slightly higher than the 3.7 per cent increase recorded in 2018, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) says in its 2019 Farmland Values report released April 6. The biggest increase — 8.9 per cent — was in the Eastman region followed by 4.7 per cent in

A local nursery association is arguing that garden markets should be considered “essential” too as their services offer food to the public as well.

COVID-19 prunes garden centre operations

For now Manitoba’s garden centres are closed to the public when normally their business would be ramping up

Manitoba’s nearly 100 garden centres are closed to the public to slow the spread of COVID-19, leaving people wondering how they’re going to get tomatoes and other transplantable vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs this spring. There likely will be ways, but as of press time, garden centres weren’t an option unless customers ordered online or


Snowbound farmers’ reduced sales drag on canola values

Unfounded intel suggesting a breakthrough on the canola ban was briefly supportive

Cold spring temperatures and a late snowstorm depressed canola markets during the week ended April 3. While nearby contract prices started the week with relative strength, that petered out by midweek when an impressive amount of snow fell in eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. That, combined with cold temperatures, discouraged some farmer selling and sidelined some trading activity. Earlier in the week,

2020 U.S. farm income prospects in the aftermath of COVID-19 are dismal.

Comment: Prepare for the worst, pray for the best

One thing is certain, the pain from COVID-19 will be very real

Despite overwhelming evidence from literally every corner of the world, a farmer friend recently related to me that three rural acquaintances had assured him that “this whole virus thing is just a big hoax to bring down Trump.” If so, there’s now 100,000-plus graves, more than a half-million hospital patients, and trillions of dollars of

COVID-19 has the potential to be as disruptive to the food retail and service industries as the Green Revolution was to agriculture.

Comment: Why COVID-19 will change the food industry, forever

Like the Green Revolution changed primary agriculture, this will change food sales

COVID-19 is likely going to redefine grocery shopping in more ways than one. Convenience now has a different meaning. It’s less about saving time and more about survival and safety. Before the crisis barely anyone ordered online, and many Canadians wondered why someone would ever order food online. Many things are changing, and changing rapidly.


Crude oil tanks at Kinder Morgan’s Sherwood Park, Alta. terminal on Nov. 14, 2016. Soyoil, a bellwether for canola, is closely connected to world crude oil prices.

Canola futures remain steady amid pandemic

Their alignment with soyoil ties canola values to crude oil’s fortunes

Despite turmoil around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, canola prices didn’t change much from week to week. ICE Futures’ May canola contract closed March 20 at $461.70 per tonne; by March 26, May canola was at $462.80 per tonne. Fuelling that steadiness has been soyoil on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Closely

Editor’s Take: Who’d have thought?

It’s been another week of surprises. Who’d have thought we’d see gasoline prices below 60 cents a litre again? Who’d have thought we’d see the federal government backstopping 75 per cent of the wage bill for the entire country? Who’d have guessed the concept of a universal basic income would suddenly be on the minds

Coronavirus pain muted for ag

Farmers hurting more from past problems than COVID-19 so far

COVID-19 may hurt Canadian farmers in the future, but for most commodities, other than cattle, there hasn’t been a huge impact, says Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. “Actually the food sector might be one of those that will be the least impacted because we will keep eating during the crisis so I don’t see



Grain elevator companies set COVID-19 protocols

Grain elevator companies set COVID-19 protocols

Goal is to keep people safe and grain flowing

If there ever was a sector that could operate during a pandemic, it’s grain. The Prairies are famous for wide open spaces, so with some planning and forethought farmers, truckers, grain companies, railways and terminal operators can keep moving Canadian grain to market, safely, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. “We don’t anticipate any issues to be