Striking the Balance: Proactive Strategy versus Reactive Response

The risks facing Canadian farmers are evolving rapidly and the policy response will determine whether they become threats or opportunities. Too often, risk management policy is viewed narrowly as Business Risk Management (BRM) programming. While Ministers have approved changes to AgriStability and AgriInvest in response to shifting risks, tweaking programs is not an effective risk management strategy on its own.

A lack of proactive, comprehensive risk management may leave the farmers overly dependent on government supports and create gaps in risk management understanding, capacity, and confidence at the farm level. This is a lost opportunity: farmers are the first line of defense when it comes to risk management, and they could be better equipped to manage risks and seize the opportunities that come with them.

This report lays out a path toward more proactive risk management. It calls for a modernized risk management framework and strategy, the establishment of a national task force and research network, and greater focus on building farmer capacity. Together, these steps chart a clear path forward for a sector that is proactive, confident, and ready for the evolving risks ahead.

For more information, contact:
Mathieu Lipari, Program Manager
Farm Management Canada
mathieu(at)FMC-GAC.com

National Agriculture Risk Management Forum 2025

A National Agriculture Risk Management Forum was held in Ottawa on February 10, 2025. The Forum was hosted by Farm Management Canada in partnership with the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute (CAPI) and gathered a diverse cross-section of members of the agricultural community including farmers, farm advisors, industry associations, lenders, insurers, and private industry service providers to share insights and ideas, and carve out a path towards making meaningful progress in improving Canada’s approach to managing farm risk.

The 2025 Forum was designed to continue to expand on the recommendations established during previous Forums, which had outlined a framework to encourage farmers, key industry service providers and governments to drive the application of a comprehensive approach to managing risk, and proactive measures to mitigate risks faced by Canadian farmers. The 2025 Forum focused on understanding the evolving risk landscape for Canada’s farmers, assessing the approaches, programs and tools available to mitigate and manage these risks, and determine the roles that various sector players, including farmers, can play in the face of emerging challenges and increasing uncertainty.

The discussions held during the Forum are summarized in this report, which contains key recommendations sector players including governments, industry, and farmers.

For more information, contact:
Mathieu Lipari, Program Manager
Farm Management Canada
mathieu(at)FMC-GAC.com

Building Farm Financial Resilience Summary Report

Results of targeted discussions held during the 2023 National Agriculture Risk Management Forum

A National Agriculture Risk Management Forum was hosted by Farm Management Canada in Ottawa February 16–17, 2023 to bring together key representatives from the agriculture sector in order to engage in a meaningful dialogue for the exchange and confluence of insights and ideas on how to improve risk management efforts across the sector.

The objective of the 2023 Forum was to reflect on the current domestic and global context in order to identify the impacts of actual, emergent, or potential risks for agriculture given the consequential changes which have taken place, and create a series of recommendations, identifying roles and responsibilities for key players to establish a path forward and make meaningful progress in building on-farm resilience and the capacity to seize new opportunities. The focus of the Forum was managing farm risk by building financial resilience at the farm level.

For more information, contact:
Mathieu Lipari, Program Manager
Farm Management Canada
mathieu(at)FMC-GAC.com

Expanding Opportunities for Canadian Agriculture by Understanding the Experience of Farm Women

Much has been said about the experience of women in farming, but little has been measured. Farm Management Canada in partnership with CentricEngine offer new research that sheds light on the crucial roles played by farm women in influencing farm success in Canada. This comprehensive research underscores the indispensable contributions of women and offers a compelling narrative that highlights opportunities to foster a transformative shift in the industry by supporting the unique needs of farm women.

The research replaces stereotypes and anecdotal information with an accurate and actionable picture of farm women to create a foundation of facts where none existed before and a path forward to meet the unique current and future needs of this target group.

The research report offers 30 recommendations under six distinct headings:

1. Support gender equity and equality initiatives in policy development, programming and governance
2. Create and enhance programming, development opportunities, and resources that specifically address the needs of farm women
3. Dedicate efforts beyond women in agriculture to focus exclusively on supporting farm women
4. Promote communication and interpersonal skills along with business management practices as essential components of farming
5. Expand existing research to more effectively capture data related to farm women (ex. Census)
6. Conduct additional research on the experience and contributions of farm women, factors that influence farm success, and a comparative study of farm men using the same human-centered lens

The Report is accompanied by an Environmental Scan that helped inform the national study.

Healthy Minds, Healthy Farms

Exploring the Connection Between Mental Health and Farm Business Management

The conversation around improving the mental health of all Canadians has been elevated in recent years. In recognition of the contribution of farmers to the Canadian economy, support for farm businesses continues to be delivered across the country through federal, provincial and territorial governments; not-for-profit organizations; and community groups.

The mental health of Canada’s farmers as it relates to farm business management is of critical economic, and public health importance. That is why Farm Management Canada, along with its partners, has been working to improve our understanding of the relationship between mental health and farm business management. More specifically, to highlight how mental health can be supported through farm business management, and how farm business management can contribute to positive mental health.

Acquiring Environmental Allies: Increasing the Adoption of Environmental Stewardship Practices by Ontario Landowners

As societal pressures around environmental stewardship increase and Canada has set ambitious targets for achieving its environmental outcomes, the agricultural sector will continue to come under the spotlight for its role in environmental sustainability. While environmental stewardship is practiced by many primary producers and recognized as a necessity for the sustainability of the sector’s natural capital, participation in environmental programs remains relatively low, especially in Ontario. Industry associations in various production sectors have created sustainability assessment frameworks for their members to measure and work towards desired environmental and social goals. Now more than ever, environmental practices are inherently linked to more than just environmental outcomes.

Management experts and scholars view sustainability through the triple-bottom-line, recognizing there is a balance between achieving environmental, economic and societal goals. Government and Industry will benefit from recognizing and promoting the triple-bottom-line to primary producers to help increase the adoption of agri-environmental programming.

This research synthesis and literature review sought to improve the understanding of how landowners in Ontario who do not participate in environmental stewardship programs could be engaged to participate and improve the environmental stewardship of their lands by studying the adoption of environmental stewardship practices in other jurisdictions and farm business management best practices.

The research reveals a number of opportunities for Ontario to increase the participation of landowners in agri-environmental programming. The recommendations derived from this research are presented in three (3) distinct categories: Policy and Programming, Communication Tactics and Strategies, and Future Research.

For more information, contact:
Heather Oakley
Project Manager
Heather.Oakley(at)fmc-gac.com

Seeds of Change

Shifting Diets and Soil Carbon Sequestration Markets: How Climate Change is Driving New Opportunities and Risks in Agriculture

Farm Management Canada is pleased to announce the release of “Seeds of Change – Shifting Diets & Soil Carbon Sequestration Markets: How Climate Change is Driving New Opportunities and Risks in Agriculture”.

Climate Change is driving shifts in Canadian agriculture and food consumption at an increasingly rapid pace, introducing new opportunities and risks that were unanticipated just a few years ago. Traditional forecasting methods fail when the future looks nothing like the past. How best then, to manage risk when faced with this kind of uncertainty? Farm Management Canada’s Roots to Success project responded to this challenge by undertaking a foresight exercise focused on farms and ranches.

Weak signals or seeds of change are defined in foresight analysis as the first indicators of change that may become significant in the future.  Members of Farm Management Canada’s National Risk Management Roundtable participated in a horizon scan exercise that identified 8 weak signals driven by climate change. Two of these signals were identified as priorities by Roundtable members:

• Canadians are shifting their diet to include more fruit, vegetables and non-animal protein alternatives (for both health and environmental reasons); and
• Soil carbon sequestration markets will become an opportunity for the agriculture sector.

In the report, both priority signals were then used to build future scenarios that indicate potential outcomes should the signal become the norm. Resulting opportunities and risks to farmers and ranchers were then identified, along with recommendations for support strategies that Farm Management Canada, other similar organisations, and governments can provide.

For more information, contact:
Mathieu Lipari, Program Manager
Farm Management Canada
mathieu(at)FMC-GAC.com

The Path Forward: Supporting the Farm Business Management Needs of Indigenous Farmers

Following the success of “Dollars and Sense: Measuring the Tangible Impacts of Beneficial Business Practices on Canadian Farms” and “Healthy Minds, Healthy Farms: Exploring the Connection Between Mental Health and Farm Business Management”, Farm Management Canada, with the support of Bayer and Canadian Canola Growers’ Association is pleased to release a new research report that will increase awareness of the needs of indigenous agricultural producers and how to support their farm business management needs.

“Indigenous Agriculture and Agri-Food: The Path Forward – Supporting the Business Management Needs of Indigenous Producers” The number of Indigenous agricultural producers in Canada is growing rapidly. To better serve these producers, we worked with the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council to engage with indigenous producers operating farm businesses across the country to learn more about their management needs. The final report provides 5 broad areas and 15 recommendations for all producers, as well as farm business management professionals at all levels to improve the agri-business sector for all, including increased access to capital, new and improved educational opportunities, and increasing market access.

“The Path Forward” was made possible by the generous participation of indigenous agricultural business owners from coast-to-coast who participated in surveys, focus groups, and interviews creating a rich picture of the current state of their farm businesses and what they need to create a robust business management plan or enhance their business management strategy.
This investigation highlights two notable pieces of information. The first being there is desire from indigenous producers for more business management training. Secondly, this study confirms the findings of other reports showing the growing number of indigenous people in agriculture working to build community, economic opportunity, and food self-determination.

The report identified five high-level recommendations with specific recommendations under each. The five recommendations are:

1. Build Lasting Relationships with Indigenous Communities
2. Increase Awareness of and Access to Indigenous Agricultural Opportunities and Support Programs
3. Enhance Indigenous Educational Opportunities
4. Expand Indigenous Support Services
5. Enhance Indigenous Research and Analysis

Recognizing the growth of First Nations and Metis people in agriculture in the last decade, Farm Management Canada contracted the Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council with the guidance of their Indigenous Advisory Council and was generously supported by Bayer, Farm Credit Canada, and the Canadian Canola Growers Association.