Any two, three, four or five per cent that you can get in terms of efficiency, in terms of productivity, will help on the bottom line, because there’s a multiplicative effect when it comes to lowering your costs...” – J.P. Gervais, Farm Credit Canada.

Economic hurdles ahead for farmers

FCC projects sliding revenue fortunes, maintains long-term optimism

A prominent Canadian ag lender is projecting a 4.8 per cent decline in farm cash receipts in 2024, thanks in part to a softening market. Consequently, its leading economist is urging producers to find any way to save money. “In this environment, I do think that management skills are absolutely critical,” said J.P. Gervais, vice-president



(Dave Bedard photo)

FCC announces new 4R incentive

The program is open to FCC customers who use AgExpert platform

FCC announced the new Sustainability Incentive Program at the Western Canadian Crop Production Show in Saskatoon. The program is open to FCC customers who put a 4R nutrient management plan in place, record production activities through AgExpert Field, and have their 4R practices verified by a 4R designated agronomist.

“Farmers today can produce two times as much with the same level of inputs,” says a new FCC report.

Editorial: Production, productivity and climate change

A tantalizing report from Farm Credit Canada recently estimated the riches that would flow if the productivity growth of the decades leading into the 21st century were to return. “Assuming the Canadian agriculture industry returns productivity growth to the plateau we recorded two decades ago, this would add as much as $30 billion in net


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Interest rate relief on the horizon: FCC

Latest U.S. Federal Reserve pronouncement heightens consensus that the worst of inflation and interest rate shocks is over

[UPDATED: Dec. 29, 2023] Canada’s largest agricultural lender says Canadian farmers can expect to see interest rate relief in the coming year. In a macroeconomic snapshot released in December, Farm Credit Canada said it expects to see rate cuts totalling 75 basis points (three quarters of a per cent) in the latter half of 2024.

(Screengrab from Merit Functional Foods video via YouTube)

Merit Foods pays off operating lender, no deal yet for plant

Plant-based protein processor in receivership since March

A Winnipeg pea and canola protein processor in receivership since this spring remains mothballed for now with no firm buyer — but has paid off one of its three secured creditors. Merit Functional Foods, which entered receivership March 1 after just two years’ operation, has sold all its remaining finished and raw inventory and directed

"What is the number one issue affecting families right now? Food prices. Inflation..." – Sylvain Charlebois.

Manitoba lags national foodservice recovery

Keystone province sees provincial sales decrease, says FCC

Food service sales in 2023 have been steady compared to 2022 in all provinces except Manitoba, which saw a drop of one percent, says a report from Farm Credit Canada. The report says sales in 2023 are back to pre-pandemic levels but below the pre-pandemic trend in most cases. Alberta leads all Canadian provinces with


Farmland is still getting more expensive in Manitoba, but not as much as the national average.

Farmland values still rising, but slower

High interest rates and already high prices are contributing to the slowdown

Average Manitoba farmland prices were up 6.4 per cent in the first half of 2023, slightly below the Canadian average increase of 7.7 per cent. The data, released in an Oct. 3 Farm Credit Canada (FCC) report, shows the province following the national trend. Analysts say the rate of increase is starting to ease. “When

(Dave Bedard photo)

FCC to offer beef heifer replacement loans

Loan program for those wanting to build, maintain herds

Cattle producers wanting to expand or maintain herds — in a time of nationwide herd contraction — are the expected beneficiaries for a new loan program from Farm Credit Canada. FCC on Tuesday announced what it calls the Replacement Heifer Program, consisting of a loan with a maximum loan life of seven years and a