Latest news with #CrispinColvin
CBC
19-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Ontario farmland prices cool down after years of double-digit jumps
Social Sharing Though the recent year-over-year increases in farm prices are levelling off in southwestern Ontario, good land remains too pricey for many people with dreams of owning their own land. "Anything like 100 acres, you're just not going to find it for under $5 million," said Crispin Colvin, a farmer and area director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture for Lambton and Middlesex counties. "There isn't really any cheap location to get into farming." A report released this week by Farm Credit Canada, a Crown corporation that provides financing to the agriculture industry, said the average price of a farm in the southwestern Ontario region rose by 3.2 per cent in 2024, reaching an average per-acre price of $33,700. That rate of increase is down considerably from recent years, which have seen double-digit increases in average farm prices: 2021: 22.2 per cent. 2022: 19.4 per cent. 2023: 10.7 per cent. Colvin said he's seen prices well above what's laid out in the Farm Credit Canada report. He said the high prices remain a significant barrier to young people interested in getting started in agriculture. "Prices have maybe tapered off or levelled a little bit but it's still really hard, especially for young people who want to get in," he said. "It's at the stage where you can either buy the equipment or buy the land, but you can't buy both." Ryan Parker, an agricultural real estate appraiser with Valco Consultants, said slightly lower interest rates and commodity prices are the two biggest factors that have led to the slight cooling in farm prices last year. "It's not really a decrease in land values, it's a decrease in the increase of land values," he said. Parker said it's too early to tell how the Canada-U.S. trade war will affect farm prices. However he said anything that reduces the price farmers can get for their meat and crops will show up in farm values. "Right now, what we're seeing is a lot of uncertainty," he said. "Some farmers are buying another farm, but others are putting the brakes on and saying, 'You know what, let's just hang back and not overspend on anything until we have more clarity on what's going to go on here.'" Colvin said another factor keeping prices high is the pressure created by urban expansion. As farms get sold, some are turned into subdivisions. "Because we're on the Highway 401 corridor, it's still a sought-after area from a development point of view," said Colvin. "And we're losing the land so as you lose it, that pushes up the price."
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Peavey Mart closing stores? Rumours about farm goods retailer worry loyal customers
Customers of a national farm goods store are trying to figure out whether they will have to start looking for a new place to shop. Peavey Mart, headquartered in Red Deer, Alta, had previously announced the closure of locations in Ontario and Nova Scotia as part of what it referred to in a news release as an "organizational restructuring." It said closing some of its stores will help optimize its retail footprint by reallocating resources to markets with stronger performance while addressing underperforming locations. However, that post has since disappeared from its website and individual store managers in other parts of the country have shared information indicating that they, too, will be shut down, leading to speculation that the entire retail chain could be going under. Searches for "Peavey Mart closing" are trending across Canada, according to Google's online dashboard and local Facebook and Reddit groups in Western Canada are full of discussion and speculation about the store's future, though additional closures have not been officially confirmed. CBC News has contacted the company for clarification but has not heard company, which markets itself as a "farm and ranch" retailer, traces its history back to 1967 when it was known as National Farmway. Its first retail location was in Dawson Creek, B.C., and over the decades, it spread across the country. Though it was briefly owned by the Peavey Company of Minneapolis, it returned to Canadian ownership in 1984 and, it says it is "100 per cent Canadian-owned and operated." Fans of the chain say it provides a service for people in rural communities not found in other big box retailers by selling goods such as farm equipment and horse feed. "It was a place you could go and readily get some stuff you need quickly," Crispin Colvin, an area director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, told CBC News last week after the announcement of closures in that province. "They're really a handy store. It's unfortunate because now people will have to drive farther to get things, which adds to the cost." The Peavey Mart location on Hyde Park Road in London, Ont., is one of 24 locations the store is planning to close by April. Rumours that the retailer will be closing all its locations have not been confirmed by CBC News. (Andrew Lupton/CBC News) Colvin said while online retailing has changed the farm supply market, he and many other farmers like to see merchandise in person before they buy. "Whether it's a bag of feed or whatever, I prefer to go in and have a look to see what the options are," he said. "Online gives you a picture, but there's a lot to be said for going into the store and seeing the product."
CBC
27-01-2025
- Business
- CBC
Is Peavey Mart closing stores? Rumours about farm goods retailer worry loyal customers
Customers of a national farm goods store are trying to figure out whether they will have to start looking for a new place to shop. Peavey Mart, headquartered in Red Deer, Alta, had previously announced the closure of locations in Ontario and Nova Scotia as part of what it referred to in a news release as an "organizational restructuring." It said closing some of its stores will help optimize its retail footprint by reallocating resources to markets with stronger performance while addressing underperforming locations. However, that post has since disappeared from its website and individual store managers in other parts of the country have shared information indicating that they, too, will be shut down, leading to speculation that the entire retail chain could be going under. Searches for "Peavey Mart closing" are trending across Canada, according to Google's online dashboard and local Facebook and Reddit groups in Western Canada are full of discussion and speculation about the store's future, though additional closures have not been officially confirmed. CBC News has contacted the company for clarification but has not heard back. WATCH | A corporate history of Peavey Mart: The company, which markets itself as a "farm and ranch" retailer, traces its history back to 1967 when it was known as National Farmway. Its first retail location was in Dawson Creek, B.C., and over the decades, it spread across the country. Though it was briefly owned by the Peavey Company of Minneapolis, it returned to Canadian ownership in 1984 and, it says it is "100 per cent Canadian-owned and operated." Fans of the chain say it provides a service for people in rural communities not found in other big box retailers by selling goods such as farm equipment and horse feed. "It was a place you could go and readily get some stuff you need quickly," Crispin Colvin, an area director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, told CBC News last week after the announcement of closures in that province. "They're really a handy store. It's unfortunate because now people will have to drive farther to get things, which adds to the cost." Colvin said while online retailing has changed the farm supply market, he and many other farmers like to see merchandise in person before they buy. "Whether it's a bag of feed or whatever, I prefer to go in and have a look to see what the options are," he said. "Online gives you a picture, but there's a lot to be said for going into the store and seeing the product."
