farmer by grain silos

What do you really think about AgriInvest? — CFA wants to know

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture says the quick, web-based survey is intended to help encourage governments to improve the program under the next Growing Forward framework

How do farmers use AgriInvest and how can the business risk management program be improved? That’s what the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) wants to learn from a survey of farmers as it prepares for the next federal-provincial-territorial farm program starting April 1, 2018, replacing Growing Forward 2. “We want to make sure we are


Rancher’s Risk and Return will be an important tool as producers consider new ways to manage downside risks and upside potential.  file photo

New calculator assesses financial risk for cattle operations

Can show how sensitive an operation is to different selling prices 
and cattle price insurance coverage levels

A new decision support tool to assist cattle producers in calculating their cost of production and risk exposure has been posted to Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s website. Rancher’s Risk and Return is an Excel spreadsheet calculator that takes an innovative approach to assessing the market price risk that cow-calf and feedlot producers continually face.

Crop insurance changes discussed at KAP meeting

Changes coming to Excess Moisture Insurance (EMI) are aimed at reducing “moral hazard” that could undermine the program’s integrity. “It just seemed from our experience there was a disproportionate amount of land coming into our program in wet years than there was in dry years,” David Van Deynze, the Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation’s (MASC) manager

A sample options strategy for soybeans

We recently had the privilege of co-presenting with the CME Group at their CBOT Grain Options Workshop during the annual Wild Oats Grainworld conference in Winnipeg. Here’s an overview of that event including what is risk, what is risk management and a straightforward strategy you can use to protect yourself against falling grain prices. What


New professorship in agricultural risk management

Staff / Lysa Porth has been selected to head the new Guy Carpenter Professorship in Agriculture Risk Management and Insurance at the University of Manitoba’s Asper School of Business. The professorship was made possible through a gift of $750,000 from Guy Carpenter & Company, a global leader in risk management and reinsurance intermediary services. The

A little more conversation: Taking action on farm safety

Farmers have a reputation for being “strong, silent types.” Growing up on a farm and getting my hands very much dirty alongside my father, I don’t disagree with some of this “salt of the earth” mystique, but I also think it’s time to move beyond the stereotypes. Farms nowadays can be complex, highly industrialized businesses




New technologies mean new challenges for farm safety

The death and injury statistics tell the tale — agriculture remains one of Canada’s most dangerous professions. All the industry’s efforts to improve the situation haven’t made any difference. In Alberta 16 people were killed in farm accidents in 2011 and three of them were under 18. Just as a comparison, among all the workers