Planning for retirement can be the last thing on a farmer’s mind. The value of the farm and investments that have accumulated over the years quite often leaves little concern about the ability to fund one’s retirement. However, discussions about succession planning or not selling off farm assets can complicate the issue. Using a Registered […] Read more
Ag Finance — page 3
RRSPs can make retirement easier
Keep track of medical expenses to apply for tax credit
Most family farms have med-ical emergencies and ex-penses. There’s often nothing that can be done to get around the financial burden. However, there may be opportunities to recover some of the outlay through your taxes. Understanding these opportunities and keeping good records can save you money. All amounts paid for eligible medical expenses over a […] Read more
Family gift may be more trouble than it’s worth
What happens in a family of four children when three of the children have left the farm and one stays to help nurture and grow the asset? In the succession plan do they all get a proportional value of the farm or does the child who has remained on the farm receive more to reflect […] Read more
Organizational development important for family farms
Managing a farm business’s workforce is as important as managing production and marketing. Employees’ responsibilities are typically defined by what they do, who they report to, and for managers, who reports to them. Over time, these definitions are assigned to positions in the organization rather than to specific individuals. The relationships among these positions can […] Read more
Analyzing capital structure enables better investment decisions
There are several things to look for when analyzing farm profitability. Gross margin and the farm’s spending on labour, power and machinery are obvious measures, but this week I want to talk about land, building and finance (LBF), which focuses on the capital structure of the business. Rental costs of land and buildings, interest costs […] Read more
Combining operations can help families simplify and save
Do you and your family members operate your own individual farming operation? Are your operations interconnected due to combined input purchases, shared or jointly owned assets or shared lending agreements? If this is the case, it could be of value to consider simplifying operations through the transfer of your assets into one entity. That’s not […] Read more
It’s truly an art form to get more done with less work
No one told Jean-Martin Fortier and Maude-Hélène Desroches that small-scale organic market gardening was endless hours of backbreaking work for low pay. “Our first role model was a French Canadian guy we worked for who was farming in northern New Mexico,” says Fortier. “He worked hard but made a lot of dough. People lined up […] Read more
Get the most from your investment
A key motivation in farm business management is increasing shareholder or owner value. This is accomplished by sustaining profit over the years and leaving as much of it as possible in the business. A farm can increase its value through capital appreciation of land and quota. There is also an accumulation of machinery and buildings, […] Read more
Understanding cost per acre ensures profitable expansion
Producers spend a lot of money on labour, power and mach-inery. Management has the most control over this category of expenses. When analyzed together, it can give producers a clear picture of the real cost per acre of their operations. Unfortunately, many operators still wrongly believe that these costs — especially machinery, which is often […] Read more
Getting away for winter can have tax implications
Making the short trip to a sunshine state to avoid the cold Canadian winter does not seem like such a bad idea for western farmers. Since last summer, these “snowbirds” may have found it tempting to extend their stay in the sun because of the news that the U.S. Senate is considering changing immigration legislation. […] Read more
