PRODUCER PREMIUMS ON ORDER FOR SUSTAINABLE BEEF
hATCHERY HELPING ALBERTA ANGLERS FOR NEARLY A CENTURY
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MARKET WATCH: Higher loonie will have many impacts A low dollar shielded Canadian farmers from lower commodity prices but it also raised the cost of farm equipment and inputs BY ALEXIS KIENLEN AND TERRY FRIES
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AF STAFF/COMMODITY NEWS SERVICE CANADA
hile you were busy growing crops and raising livestock this summer, a rising dollar has been taking aim at your profits. The growing season started with the loonie trading under the 75 U.S. cents mark — and many analysts sticking to the theory it would stay low as long as oil prices remained in the doldrums. But after two hikes in the Bank of Canada prime rate, talk of the
see Higher loonie } page 7
Worried about federal tax changes? There’s an alternative, say experts Federal Liberal bid to close ‘loopholes’ will increase taxes on most farm corporations, but there’s a way to avoid that hit BY JENNIFER BLAIR AF staff
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roposed federal tax changes aimed at ‘income sprinkling’ and other tax reduction measures used by corporations — including those owned by farmers — have ignited a storm of controversy. But there are “a lot of other tax strategies” that farmers can use, say financial planning experts. In July, federal finance officials announced proposed changes to the Income Tax Act that, if passed, will change the regulations around lifetime capital gains deductions, income splitting, and incorporating farms, among other things. Critics — including a growing number of farm groups — have decried the changes as well as the 75-day public consultation process, which ends Oct. 2 while most farmers are busy with harvest or fall work. Both Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have vowed to push ahead, saying the changes are about levelling the playing field for all taxpayers. But although the two politicians say the target is high-income earners, federal finance officials are also concerned about farm corporations. “The government doesn’t like it when farmers are using their farming corporation as a pension plan as a way to defer
Add one more harvest worry to the list — the prospect of higher taxes. But experts say a personal pension could reduce that hit and provide a host of other benefits. PHOTO: REUTERS/Todd Korol taxation — it doesn’t see that as what it was designed for,” said Jean-Pierre Laporte, CEO of Integris Pension Management Corporation in Toronto. “The government realized it’s losing a lot of tax revenue because that’s exactly how a lot of farmers have structured their affairs.”
That’s made the government keen on closing “what it perceived to be a loophole” and if the proposed changes go ahead, farmers will be affected, he said. “Most of the time, farmers operate
see tax changes } page 6
IS YO U R FARM WO RKIN G AS HARD AS YO U DO? FAR M MANAG E M E NT. DATA MANAG E M E NT. VA R I A B L E R AT E T E C H N O LO G Y. S U P P O R T. The results are clear with average yield increases* of: 10.8% in canola / 5.9% in wheat / 6.4% in barley. See the whole picture at echelonag.ca Available exclusively from CPS. BRING IT ON.
09/17-56406 *Results from 2016 data collected from 515,028 acres of canola, 379,336 acres of wheat and 88,360 of barley across a total of 4,227 fields in Western Canada. Echelon is a registered trademark of Crop Production Services (Canada) Inc. CPS CROP PRODUCTION SERVICES and Design is a registered trademark of Crop Production Services, Inc.
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2017-09-08 10:48 AM