Christian Lawrence told the recent Alberta Beef Industry Conference in Calgary that inflation will remain a concern in the United States, regardless of how the tariff trade war plays out.
Tag Archives interest rates

Crop markets follow weather, tariffs, currency fluctuations
Crop markets in early 2025 will likely be subdued as production prospects in South America appear good and the outlook for global trade is on edge, fearing U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threats about levying harsh tariffs and a potential renewed trade war with China. In the Southern Hemisphere, Australia has mostly completed its harvest with […] Read more

Loonie lags as U.S. booms
WINNIPEG — A chart of the loonie’s value in 2024 shows that something changed in early October. For the first nine months of the year, the Canadian dollar was trading between 72 and 74 cents American. On Oct. 1, the loonie was valued at 74.1 cents relative to the U.S. dollar. It then sharply declined, […] Read more

Lower interest rates are good news for farmers
Central banks reduce the cost of borrowing as inflation eases, making it easier to take out a loan and expand operations
Glacier FarmMedia – High interest rates are the hammer used by central banks to temper inflation, and many are now using the claw side of the tool to ease the higher rates of the past few years. The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark overnight rate by 50 basis points on Dec. 12, taking it […] Read more
More interest rate cuts expected after recent reduction
OTTAWA (Reuters) — The Bank of Canada reduced its key benchmark rate by 50 basis points last week to 3.75 per cent, its first bigger-than-usual move in more than four years, and hailed signs the country has returned to an era of low inflation. The central bank, which hiked rates to a 20-year high to […] Read more

Bank of Canada must cut interest rates more aggressively
The central bank was expected to announce a 25 basis point drop in the overnight rate, but cut should have been deeper
By the time you are reading this, the Bank of Canada will likely have announced a 25 basis point (0.25 per cent – editor’s note: it was .50 per cent drop, details here) drop in the overnight interest rate to four per cent. That was the economists’ prediction before the bank’s most recent meeting. The […] Read more
Bank of Canada cuts rates, hails ‘good news’ on low inflation
OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Bank of Canada on Wednesday reduced its key benchmark rate by 50 basis points to 3.75 per cent, its first bigger-than-usual move in more than four years, and hailed signs the country has returned to an era of low inflation. The central bank, which hiked rates to a 20-year high to […] Read more

Central banks ponder how fast to reduce interest rates
The latest inflation and employment reports show the Canadian economy could be cooling too fast, prompting several prominent economists to encourage the Bank of Canada to aggressively cut interest rates. The bank met this week and was expected to cut its key rate by at least 25 basis points or more. This column was written […] Read more

Farmland transaction numbers down this year
FCC says producers are worried about commodity prices, input costs and interest rates, which could hurt farmland values
UPDATED: Farmland values chart added September 12, 2024 – 1030 CST – WINNIPEG — Less farmland has been bought and sold in Canada this year. Prices haven’t dropped, but the lack of transactions is a signal that demand is softer, says the chief economist at Farm Credit Canada. FCC will release its official estimates of […] Read more
Bank of Canada cuts interest rates
OTTAWA (Reuters) — The Bank of Canada has trimmed its key interest rate by 25 basis points for the second month in a row, bringing it to 4.5 per cent, and said more reductions in borrowing costs were likely if inflation continued to cool in line with forecasts. The central bank had kept its policy […] Read more