Tag Archives: british
Good Farms ‘Being Snapped Up Like Crazy’
By Debora Van Brenk , The London Free Press Wednesday, September 11, 2013 Soybeans grow in Leamington, Ontario on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. (DEREK RUTTAN, QMI Agency) A three-year frenzy for farmland is starting to cool — but only slightly — as grain prices continue sliding from last year’s lofty heights. Even so, don’t expect land prices to drop anytime soon, says a new national real estate report. It shows acreage has been a particularly hot seller in Southwestern Ontario, where it’s not unusual to find acreage selling at twice the price of a few years ago. “Farming has been on an enormous high,” said David Brown, executive vice-president of Re/Max that produced the farm market trends report. About 40% of acreage on the market saw multiple purchase offers and there continue to be a lot more interested buyers than sellers, he said. “The very desirable farms are being snapped up like crazy.” The biggest jump came last year, coinciding with corn prices that topped $7 a bushel and soybeans at $13-plus. But this year’s dip in crop prices is making some buyers more cautious. “That may moderate the market,” Brown predicted. He said that means prices will stabilize but are unlikely to fall. “It’s hard to forecast anything but positive,” he said, as long-term trends show there’s still far more demand for land than available acreage. The biggest price jumps in Ontario during the past three years took place in parts of Middlesex and Elgin counties. “Clearly the lustre came off in February” as crop prices started dropping, said Mark Wales, head of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. But, apart from a decline in the 1980s when interest rates rose to 20%, land prices haven’t fallen in recent memory. Increases may slow, and sometimes even plateau, but the supply of land keeps shrinking and the world population is growing. “The long-term trend has always been upward,” Wales said. But the ups and down of commodity prices also mean anyone who has bought that rapidly appreciating land will also need some fiscal depth to make payments. “Hopefully for them, they have enough cash flow to back it up,” Wales said. The increase in purchase prices is also driving up rates to rent the land, he said. Brown said most buyers are neighbours of the sellers — far more often family farmers looking for economies of scale than speculators looking for a future flip. “They’re looking long term. They’re not interested in short-term fluctuations.” The rapid rise in prices also makes it tough to be a new buyer. “It’s good if you own it because it means you’re worth more, at least on paper,” Wales said. “The problem that such a massive short-term increase brings is that it makes it tough for young farmers.” Fifteen of the 17 rural communities highlighted in the RE/MAX farm report showed land-price increases in farmer-to-farmer sales — the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia and the Fraser Valley in British Columbia were the two exceptions where prices changed only slightly or not at all. — — — A sampling of farmland prices per acre (market value in 2010 in brackets) Leamington $11,000+ ($7,000) Chatham-Kent $5,000-$16,000 ($4,000 – $12,000) Middlesex East $12,000 ($8,000) Middlesex West $12,000 ($5,000) Elgin County East $10,000 ($6,000) Elgin County West $8,000 ($4,500) Lambton North $11,000 ($6,000) Lambton South $7,500 ($4,000) Woodstock/Stratford $15,000 – $18,000 ($8,400 – $8,600) Kitchener-Waterloo $15,000-$18,000 ($9,000 – $9,500) Bruce County $5,000 – $9,000 ($3,000 – $5,000) Grey County $3,500 – $6,500 ($2,500 – $3,000) Northern Saskatchewan n $1,500 – $2,000 ($650 – $1,200 in 2011) Central Alberta $3,400 – $6,500 ($1,600 – $3,800 in 2011) Fraser Valley $40,000 – $60,000 $40,000 – $60,000 in 2011) Source: RE/MAX Market Trends Report: Farm Edition 2013 Continue reading
G20 fails to heal rift on Syria at Russia talks
G20 fails to heal rift on Syria at Russia talks (AFP) / 6 September 2013 World leaders at the G20 summit on Friday failed to bridge their bitter divisions over US plans for military action against the Syrian regime, as Washington slammed Moscow for holding the UN Security Council ‘hostage’ over the crisis. Despite not being on the original agenda of the summit hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin outside Saint Petersburg, the leaders discussed the Syria crisis into the early hours of the morning over dinner amid the splendour of a former imperial palace. US President Barack Obama (L) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R) at the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg on September 5, 2013.- Reuters Putin has emerged as one of the most implacable critics of military intervention against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad over an alleged chemical weapons attack on August 21, saying any such move without UN blessing would be an aggression. There was no breakthrough at the dinner as leaders, including US President Barack Obama , presented their positions on the Syria crisis which only confirmed the extent of global divisions on the issue, participants said. “The differences of opinions of the leaders were confirmed during the dinner,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. British Prime Minister David Cameron (C) chairs a meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria at the G20 summit in St Petersburg on September 6, 2013. – Reuters “Some states were defending the view that rushed measures should be taken, overlooking legitimate international institutions. Other states appealed not to devalue international law and not to forget that only the UN Security Council has the right to decide on using force,” he added. A high-ranking source close to the talks said there was a disappointing lack of ambition at the dinner on the Syria issue, noting that Putin as host was keen not to aggravate tensions further. But a French diplomatic source said the objective of the dinner “was an exchange between the top world leaders and not to come to an agreement”. The dinner went on into the small hours of the morning and even after a late-night opera show, Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron had a meeting to discuss the Syria situation, the Kremlin said. UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday also warned that military strikes could spark further sectarian violence in the country which he said is suffering from a humanitarian crisis “unprecedented” in recent history. “I must warn that ill-considered military action could cause serious and tragic consequences, and with an increased threat of further sectarian violence,” Ban said. The Syria crisis and prospect of military intervention has overshadowed the official agenda of the summit of leaders of the world’s top economies and emerging markets to stimulate growth and battle tax avoidance. It was not immediately clear if the leaders would have another chance to discuss Syria on the summit’s second day or if the main session would focus on purely economic issues. Several Western states share Putin’s opposition to military action and after the British parliament voted against strikes, France is the only power to have vowed it will join American intervention. Obama is seeking backing from Congress for military action, putting back the timetable for strikes which had been anticipated even before the two day-summit got underway on Thursday. The US president held a bilateral meeting on Friday morning with President Xi Jinping of China, who like Russia vehemently opposes military action against Syria. Even as the leaders were setting out their arguments at the dinner, the US ambassador to the United Nations in New York launched a lacerating attack on Russia for holding the Security Council “hostage” over its backing of Assad. “Even in the wake of the flagrant shattering of the international norm against chemical weapons use, Russia continues to hold the council hostage and shirk its international responsibilities,” Samantha Power told reporters. Amid a new low in US-Russia tensions, no bilateral meeting as been scheduled between Putin and Obama although officials have left the door open for some informal contact. According to US intelligence, more than 1,400 people living in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus were killed in the August 21 chemical weapons attack, which involved the use of sarin nerve gas. The US says the Assad regime was responsible, a claim not accepted by Russia. Cameron told BBC TV from the G20 summit that Britain had further evidence of the use of chemical weapons in the attack in samples its experts had tested. With the clock ticking down to strikes, Russia said Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem would travel to Moscow for talks on Monday. The two-and-a-half year conflict between Assad and rebels, which began as a popular uprising, has left more than 100,000 people dead. About a third of Syria’s pre-war 20.8 million population has fled abroad or have been forced from their homes, according to the UN refugee agency. Continue reading
Japan And China Imported 83% Of Traded Hardwood
North American wood pellet exports reached a new record of over one million tons in first month of this year. There has been a steady growth in shipments from both the US and Canada the past few years, mainly as a result of the continued increase in demand for pellets in the United Kingdom by S. C. Pellet exports from the two primary pellet-producing regions on the North American continent – the US South and British Columbia – showed no signs of slowing in early 2013, with the rate of growth likely to accelerate in the second half of the year. In the US South, pellet export volumes to Europe resumed their double-digit growth after a brief pause in the 4Q/12. Export volumes, based on information from industry sources as well as trade data in Europe and North America, showed exports in excess of 1.7 million tons in 2012, as reported in the North American Wood Fiber Review (www.woodprices.com). Canadian exports also rose in 2012 to 1.5 million tons, but this increase was less than that seen in the US. During the 1Q/13, total pellet exports from North America reached a new record of over one million tons for the quarter. This can be compared to the annual shipments of 750,000 tons just four years ago. The United Kingdom continues to strengthen its claim as the primary destination for North American pellets with over two-thirds of the export volume from the US and Canada going to the UK in the 1Q/13. The story of Drax’s plans for its large power plant conversion from coal to biomass in Selby, England, continues to make news across North America. Earlier in the spring, Drax Biomass International Inc (DBi), a US-based subsidiary to Drax Power, announced that it will develop, construct and manage two pellet plants, a port storage and a loading facility in the US South, which will be sending pellets to fuel the company’s UK facility. Also, in Eastern Canada, pellet producer Rentech announced an off-take agreement with Drax Biomass, which will result in new investment in ports to increase pellet-loading capacity, and in rail transportation, along with the construction and operation of two pellet facilities themselves. The increase in pellet production in Western Canada has pushed sawdust prices upward the past few years, with 2013 prices being about 15 % higher than they were in 2010, as reported in the NAWFR. In the US South, where smaller logs from thinnings and treetops are commonly used for pellet manufacturing, there has not yet been any region-wide upward price pressure as a result of the new wood-consuming sector in the region. by S. C. 02 September 2013 Teatro Naturale International n. 9 Year 5 Continue reading
