Hursh Comment

A grain broker operating in Western Canada has hit a financial squeeze and as a result a number of producers are unpaid for grain deliveries made many months ago. The number of unpaid producers and the amounts owing are not public, but the situation raises a number of questions. When I heard about the issue, …

Each year, every farm has successes and failures and grain prices always fluctuate, but the good times appear to be waning. We each play the hand we’re dealt and spend most of our time looking forward rather than back, but in most cases, profitability has eroded quite dramatically over the past several years. Perhaps some …

Another grain buyer has left farmers unpaid for grain deliveries. And yet again, some producers will be outside of the timelines required for compensation under the Canadian Grain Commission’s licencing and bonding program. This time it’s Purely Canada Foods with its facilities in Avonlea, Kindersley and Lajord, Saskatchewan. Those in the grain trade are not …

Farmers now have another reason to bash the Trudeau Liberals – the increase in the capital gains tax inclusion rate. Unfortunately, many of the arguments against the tax don’t withstand scrutiny. Certainly, taxes of all kinds are too high in Canada. In the case of the federal government, the public employee contingent has ballooned, expanding …

Sometime in the mid to late 80s when drought, soil erosion and terrible grain farm economics were plaguing the sector, I recall a Save our Soils meeting in my hometown. A portable sign was employed to advertise the meeting, but someone rearranged the letters to spell “Save our Souls.” That actually captured the sentiment at …

According to longtime farmland realtor Tim Hammond, retired farmers are becoming more likely to sell some or all of their land rather than renting it out. This shift in attitudes could have an impact on the farmland market in the years to come. About one-third of Saskatchewan farmland is leased and while the land owned …

Here are some of this year’s seeding season frustrations. Perhaps you’ll relate to one or more. It’s been a few years since we’ve had significant rain delays during seeding and one of the frustrations is seed inoculant for pulse crops. We’ve long used peat inoculant applied to the seed as it goes into the seed …

Adam Bercu, founder and CEO of a company called Guardian Agriculture has altered my opinion on the future of spray drones. I recently met Bercu at a venture capital summit in Silicon Valley, not far from San Francisco. He was a sponsor of the event and had one of his drones on display for everyone …

Governments should cut taxes. Governments should increase spending in key priorities such as health care and education. Meanwhile, governments shouldn’t run deficits. While the math says these three are incompatible, government budgets are simultaneously criticized on all three counts. It’s easy picking for whatever party is in opposition. Even if a government has a lucky …

What if current grain prices and squeezed margins are the new normal? Certainly, there are well-capitalized operations with a great deal of resilience. However, you have to think there will be operations financially stretched by aggressive expansion. Timing is everything when a new producer starts out or when a farm makes a major expansion. Buying …

With the substantial reduction in grain prices over the past five months, the profitability picture in the crops sector has dimmed considerably. That appears to be having an impact on the farmland market while making AgriStabililty look more appealing. Let’s start with AgriStability, a program which many farmers have dropped. Slightly less than half of …

Many farmers are probably unaware of the legislation regarding the interoperability of equipment, but it’s a rare example of parliamentarians coming together to support a good cause. In simple terms, interoperability refers to the ability of short line equipment manufacturers to have their products work on mainline machines. The issue came to a head with …