THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
VOL. 94 | NO. 37 | $4.25 LOWBALLS CANOLA CONUNDRUM | STATCAN CROP ESTIMATE — AGAIN P6
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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WWW.PRODUCER.COM
FINANCES
HARVEST
FCC confident amid rising farm debt
Grain cleaning solutions still unclear as harvest progresses
Debt-to-asset ratios dip below 15-year average
BY ED WHITE BY SEAN PRATT SASKATOON NEWSROOM
The picture of farm debt on the ground matches the bigger industry picture and it says Canadian farmers are generally in good financial shape. A new report by Farm Credit Canada suggests producers are doing well despite a softening of all the key financial ratios in 2015. Record farm income and solid asset appreciation have bolstered farm finances but 2015 was the first year in a long time that some of the key financial ratios weakened slightly. “We say with confidence that Canadian farmers are in a strong position to meet their financial obligations,” said FCC chief agricultural economist J.P. Gervais. The debt-to-asset ratio of Canadian farms increased for the first time in six years due to farm debt increasing faster than assets in 2015. But the ratio remains historically low at 15.5 percent compared to the previous five-year average of 15.9 percent and the 15-year average of 16.7 percent. The ratio measures the solvency of farms. It indicates that for every dollar of assets there is an average of 15.5 cents of debt. The current ratio is below the 15-year average in all three Prairie provinces. Since 2010, the value of assets has risen
SEE FARM DEBT, PAGE 4
»
$46.2
WINNIPEG BUREAU
$86.8
Farmers are beginning to wonder how to salvage value out of their weather-damaged crops. But Roy Ritchie, a Flaman graincleaning specialist, doesn’t have easy answers for them. Different types of crop damage have different solutions. “They ask: ‘What can I do?’ I say: ‘I don’t know. I’d have to see it’,” said Ritchie, who estimated he fielded 80-90 farmer calls about cleaningout damage in the first full week of September. Across Western Canada, farmers are anxiously watching the seeds that are going into their combine hoppers to see how much their crops suffered from the multitude of diseases that thrived during the wet summer and damp early harvest season.
BILLION
SEE CLEANING SOLUTIONS, PAGE 5
$60.5
u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv$:' BILLION
SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Stn. Main, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4
BILLION
TOTAL CANADIAN FARM LIABILITIES AS OF DEC. 31 2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
»
BILLION
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Source: Statistics Canada CANSIM 002-0020 | MICHELLE HOULDEN GRAPHIC
OUR #HARVEST16 PHOTO CONTEST IS UNDERWAY. SEE WWW.PRODUCER.COM/HARVEST16 FOR DETAILS. NEW COLUMN: Agri Culture
Merger announced
Western Producer reporter and columnist Ed White writes a new column that touches on rural culture. This week, he muses whether Australian Blundstones will replace Canadian work boots. | Page 67
Canadian fertilizer producers Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan and Agrium agreed to a merger that will boost efficiency and cut costs, but the new company may attract tough regulatory scrutiny. | Page 13
The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Corp. Publisher: Shaun Jessome Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240
$35.6
56 percent compared to a 43-percent increase in liabilities. Farm debt continues to climb, reaching $86.8 billion by the end of 2015. Derek Squair, president of Agri-Trend Marketing, said the report findings are reflected in the balance sheets he sees working with the firm’s 1,800 farm customers. Growers are in good financial shape and have strong debt-to-asset ratios. He isn’t concerned about the amount of debt being amassed on an individual farm level. “I don’t think it’s getting out of hand,” he said. “It’s really a sign of consolidation, farmers getting bigger, two brothers farming together as opposed to separately before.”