Spring CFO Articles

Increasing costs add complexity and risk to your farm operation. It’s a good time to focus on farm budgets to make better business decisions By: Craig Macfie   With the costs to farm today, hope is definitely not a strategy. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks inflation, is up 20 per cent since 2020. And according to data from Global Ag Risk Solutions, it’s two to three times more expensive to farm than 20 years ago. Farmers of today can get into financial trouble fa

By: Craig Macfie   The new calendar year is usually a reminder that the previous year’s bookkeeping needs to get done. Along with income tax compliance, farm bookkeeping needs to be completed for financial reporting and government programs. I refer to this as the holy trinity of farm accounting. Your single set of accounting books exists in three forms: tax records, financial reporting and government programs.   Farm operations with up-to-date and accurate financial records a

Green Lightning has a growing customer base that’s replacing traditional nitrogen By: Craig Macfie Farmers continue to see most line items increase in their annual operating budget. This is one reason they are interested in producing their own nitrogen on-farm with Green Lightning. Chris Nykolaishen, based in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, manages the Canadian distribution of the Green Lightning technology through his company Nytro Ag Corp www.nytro.ca .  2025 was the second growing

Farmers and lenders should have an expectation for future farmland values By Craig Macfie Future farmland values will affect your balance sheet and your ability to refinance and execute business decisions. So, I’m surprised that future farmland values aren’t discussed more between farmers and lenders. The reason is likely because these values are speculative. Lenders deal with enough risk; they need to bank on what certainty they can. And anyone who knows for sure what farmla

Building an agribusiness finance team requires the right mix of processes, technology and people By Craig Macfie Typical growing pains for an agribusiness include managing the overhead of accounting and finance. I like to think of the operations and sales team as the invading army – looking to conquer more acres, market share and revenue. Meanwhile the accounting and finance team functions in a supporting role as the supply lines, providing up to date information and go-forwa

By: Craig Macfie How much cash runway does your business have? I write this during harvest time when many of my farm clients are...

Photo credit: Sixteen Grains, Saskatoon, SK By Craig Macfie It didn’t take long in my accounting career to learn that farmers don’t like...

Since 2024, Spring CFO has helped family farms and agribusinesses secure over $50 million in new bank credit facilities. This financing...

(Source: Global Ag Risk Solutions Western Canada data) By Craig Macfie The cost to farm in Western Canada has doubled in the past fifteen...

To fully digitize farm bookkeeping involves accounting software coupled with a digital receipts and record-keeping system By Craig Macfie...

By Craig Macfie It looks like 2022-level profitability is over for farms in Western Canada. The decline of commodity markets combined...

Capital is required to grow the farm business but sometimes it takes an innovative approach By: Craig Macfie Agriculture’s future will...

By Craig Macfie Capital + Risk + Execution = Farm Growth “Change is inevitable, growth is optional” is a quote from John C. Maxwell. It’s...

By: Craig Macfie In my career as a farm CPA and CFO I’ve noticed some recurring themes. Balance sheets and consolidation are increasing,...

Bringing more siblings and cousins on board can strengthen your farm, but be sure to do it right By: Craig Macfie Historically, most...

A career as a fractional CFO is emerging as an option for finance professionals with the right mix of experience and entrepreneurial spirit.

With the winter’s drop in grain prices, it’s important to track your inventory adjustment to avoid cash-flow and financing surprises By:...

Financial management is evolving as fast as agronomy. Your budget can have the best of both   Crop planning involves decisions on return...

Whether the CFO is the farm owner or hired out, their job is to look to the future, mitigate risk, and manage growth.