A General Motors illustration featuring a display version of its 2024 Silverado EV pickup, due for release in the fall of 2023. (Media.GM.ca)

GM buyouts cut 5,000 jobs, CFO says

Not much more room seen to raise prices

Reuters — About 5,000 General Motors salaried workers took buyouts to leave the company, putting the company well on the way to hitting a US$2 billion cost-cutting target, the automaker’s chief financial officer said Tuesday. GM shares were trading down nearly two per cent at midday, even though CFO Paul Jacobson said demand for GM’s

(Artisteer/iStock/Getty Images)

British milk sours amid labour crisis

London | Reuters — Some British dairy farmers have been forced to destroy tens of thousands of litres of milk due to rising costs, labour shortages and an acute deficit of truck drivers which has strained supply chains to breaking point, farmers said. A post-Brexit shortage of workers, exacerbated by the global strains of the


(Alexey Rezvykh/iStock/Getty Images)

‘Perfect storm’ causes fertilizer price spikes

'Most of us are in a "wait-and-see" position'

MarketsFarm — Fertilizer prices have increased over the past year, but could be headed even higher as a recent confluence of events has caused a shortage — the effects of which may affect producers past the New Year. “Particularly, in the last few weeks, there have been a number of supply events which have really

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Saskatchewan ranchers backed for runoff control

Funding on offer for earth-moving work

Cow-calf producers in Saskatchewan may be able to get cost-shared funds from the federal/provincial Farm Stewardship Program to build ponds, ditches, dikes or berms to collect or manage runoff. The province and federal government on Tuesday announced such work now qualifies as a beneficial management practice (BMP) covered under the program. Eligible beef cow-calf producers



KAP, fruit growers backed for COVID-related costs

KAP, fruit growers backed for COVID-related costs

Online infrastructure, work-from-home setups led to unexpected costs in 2020

Federal funding for organizations supporting small businesses will help Keystone Agricultural Producers and Prairie Fruit Growers Association pay for unexpected expenses brought on by COVID-19. For KAP, this includes setting up staff to work from home and hosting webinars. “All these things have additional costs, which for a small organization was unexpected,” said Patty Rosher,


Signage on a Tweed retail outlet in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Canopy Growth to move U.S. listing to Nasdaq

Canadian cannabis company minding expenses

Reuters — Canadian pot producer Canopy Growth said on Tuesday it would move its U.S. stock listing to the Nasdaq, following rival Aphria in favouring the exchange’s “cost-effectiveness.” Canopy’s U.S. shares, currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange, rose over four per cent in extended trading. Years of high expenses and a lack of

(Greg Berg photo)

Machinery costs driving up fixed farming expenses

MarketsFarm — Fixed costs on farms continue to rise year-over-year, a statistic largely attributed to increasing land values and interest rates. At the beginning of 2019, Farm Credit Canada (FCC) reported farmland values across Canada increased by an average of 6.6 per cent during the previous year. But that’s not the main driver of fixed


A GSI grain drying system at Bashaw, Alta. (Grainews photo courtesy Western General)

Prairie provinces react to Bibeau’s questions on carbon price impact

Ottawa — The Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments continue attempts to convince the federal government’s carbon pricing program puts farmers at a disadvantage. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau recently suggested the carbon pricing system may not be disadvantaging farmers, questioning the impact of carbon pricing on agriculture, but saying she will continue to seek out more

A farmer checking out his canola crop.

Tips for when crop profits appear elusive

Assess in-crop spending relative to the crop that is coming

Profits are going to be a challenge for canola if current prices persist. They are depressed in part because China, Canada’s largest canola seed market, isn’t buying. But most other crops aren’t looking much better. To improve profitability farmers can cut costs and/or increase production, says Manitoba Agriculture farm management specialist Roy Arnott. Both are