Farm auction advertisements were commonplace in early-‘80s editions of the Manitoba Co-operator. 
PHOTO: FILE

In the shadow of the ’80s

HISTORY | Did the ‘80s sabotage efforts to keep rural areas vibrant?

Editor’s note: This is part four of a series on the Rural STEP program and the ongoing conundrum of rural depopulation. Read part one, part two and part three. It’s 1984. The trial of an 18-year-old farm boy from Minnesota makes the pages of the New York Times. Steven Todd Jenkins is accused of working


(Dave Bedard photo)

FCC’s top economic charts to monitor in 2024

Downward trends for cattle, swine herds; positive bent to feed, fertilizer affordability

As we start the new year amid elevated inflation and major headwinds facing the economy, here are our top charts to help make sense of the economic environment for farm operations, agribusinesses and food processors.




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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.


Growers are starting to feel the pinch of inflation, high interest rates and rising labour costs.

Inputs strike sour note on farm cash receipt rise

Farm cash has been flowing in fast, but it’s been flowing out fast too

Manitoba farm groups were unsurprised by a recent Statistics Canada report into last year’s farm income, which flagged increased farm cash receipt and higher input costs. After all, Keystone Agricultural Producers director Chuck Fossey noted, it’s almost the end of 2023. Farmers lived those price trends and have seen how things carried into this year. “We

CBOT January 2024 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans set 6-1/2-week high

Weaker U.S. dollar lifts grains complex

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures touched a 6-1/2-week high on Friday, lifted by uneven crop weather in top soy producer Brazil and fresh export demand for U.S. supplies, coupled with a plunge in the dollar that bolstered corn and wheat futures as well. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) January soybean futures settled up


File photo of wheat under snow. (Ssvyat/iStock/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Demand, not interest rates, affecting markets

U.S. Fed decision 'pretty much factored in'

MarketsFarm — While key interest rates in the United States will stay put for the time being, corn and wheat prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) declined steadily during the week ended Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced earlier Wednesday that the central bank’s policy rate will remain within 5.25 and 5.5 per

ICE January 2024 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola pulling lower

Futures subject to 'financial gravity'

MarketsFarm — Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange kicked off the week of Oct. 23-27 with sharp losses, as the most heavily traded January contract busted through its support level of $700 per tonne. Among the reasons for canola’s steep fall, as David Derwin pointed out, were the better than average yields from this year’s