Monette Farms: one offer for the farm at Aguila

Monette Farms has been trying to sell its farm at Aguila, in Maricopa County, Arizona, since September 26, 2025, when it signed a listing agreement with Southwest Land Associates, LLC, a broker the group describes as familiar with agricultural properties in the state. The broker offered the farm privately to industry contacts and then, from January 26, 2026, publicly, at US$22 million, alongside a cold produce storage building and a seed facility on West Camelback Road listed together at US$10 million. No offer came for any of it. Relisted after the CCAA filing at US$18.5 million, a cut the lenders' agent approved, the farm drew one offer, from Byner Cattle Company, which had expressed interest throughout the pre-filing marketing without ever submitting a bid, per the Fourth Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Aug. 10, 2026, paras. 17–20.

On August 19, Justice C.J. Feasby of the Court of King's Bench of Alberta approved the sale and granted a vesting order, per the Arizona Sale Approval and Vesting Order, Aug. 19, 2026, paras. 3, 6. The price is not on the public record. In the executed agreement appended to the monitor's report, which names Byner as a Nevada corporation, the purchase price and the 5% earnest money are both blanks, per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, App. "B", preamble and s. 3.1. The unredacted copy is in a confidential affidavit the applicants asked to have sealed, and the orders Cassels Brock & Blackwell served the next day included a sealing order granted by Justice Feasby, per the Service Letter re 19 August, 2026 Service of Order, Aug. 20, 2026, p. 1. Title will not pass until the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, where the group's chapter 15 case is pending, recognizes the order.

Swift Current, 1912

The group's history begins with a family grain farm at Swift Current, Saskatchewan, in 1912. Darrel Monette, its sole voting shareholder and chief executive, took the farm over in 2013, and the expansion that followed was "funded by debt secured against the acquired farmland." The group went into the United States in 2019 and into cattle and produce in 2021, segments his first affidavit calls higher-profit but costlier to start and to staff than grain, per the Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Apr. 17, 2026, paras. 1, 21–22, 26. By April 12, 2026 it owned about 274,000 acres, leased about 218,000 more under 196 leases, and described itself as a top-ten global farm operator by acres farmed. Grain was more than 50% of 2025 revenue; produce, about 15%, came from Saskatchewan and British Columbia "with significant fall and winter production in Arizona." In the affidavit's table of owned land, the Aguila farm is a 3,134-acre line entered under produce, per the Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Apr. 17, 2026, paras. 11, 80, 89, 91.

The affidavit attributes the insolvency to leverage and shrinking margins. Between 2017 and 2022 revenue rose from $45 million to $198 million and EBITDA from $20 million to $83 million. In 2024 revenue reached $347 million on 440,000 cultivated acres while EBITDA fell to $37 million, or $83 an acre; for 2025 the group projected $72 million and made about $31 million, citing "poor crop prices, higher costs, spoilage, and poor yields." Borrowing against land had been "sustainable with lower interest rates in the range of three percent and growing Real Property valuations," and from 2024, the affidavit says, land values went flat while rates and inflation stayed high, per the Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Apr. 17, 2026, paras. 107–109, 147.

The senior lenders are a syndicate with The Bank of Nova Scotia as agent, under a Senior Facilities Agreement dated December 5, 2018 that the monitor describes as a $930 million facility, $950 million with its accordion, per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, para. 19. About $829.5 million was outstanding under it when it matured on April 15, 2026. Farm Credit Canada's $30 million revolving facility, secured on cattle bought with its advances, matured the same day with $11,809,862.49 owing, and FCC issued demands on April 16, per the Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Apr. 17, 2026, paras. 112, 125–130.

An RBC Capital Markets process in the second half of 2024 to raise about $400 million for a minority stake did not complete. The group sold farmland at Regina for $41.18 million and 17,000 acres in Montana for $47.5 million, signed a forbearance agreement in November 2025 and soon missed its milestones. A sale programme then sold the 12,932-acre Stewart Valley Farm for $54 million, drew 62 bids on parts of 135,600 acres with results "not acceptable to the Group," and took the British Columbia ranches to an auction where they did not sell. On April 6, 2026 the group told the syndicate the cattle herds would not be sold as a draft restructuring support agreement contemplated. The syndicate then advised that, without an acceptable business plan and forecast, any liquidity past maturity would require a CCAA-supervised structure, per the Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Apr. 17, 2026, paras. 14, 148–161. The growing season was weeks off. "In my view, this binary outcome—either seed now or lose the year—is the central operational reality," Mr. Monette deposed, per the Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Apr. 17, 2026, para. 56.

Justice C.M. Jones granted the initial order on April 21, per the Second Affidavit of Darrel Noel Monette, Apr. 28, 2026, para. 7. On May 1 the amended and restated order extended the stay to June 19, approved interim financing of up to $90 million from the syndicate secured by a $95 million charge; on May 13 the Delaware court recognized the CCAA proceeding as a foreign main proceeding, per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, paras. 1–4.

Hafford, at a price anyone can read

The first sale to close was agreed before the filing. G and K Walter Farms and Harvesting Ltd., of Magrath, Alberta, signed a Saskatchewan realtors' association form contract on March 9, 2026 to buy 2,553 acres at Hafford for "Twenty-nine million ($29,000,000)." It was one of two offers for that land; the other was conditional, "fell materially below the appraised value" and did not extend to the leased land farmed with it, per the Second Affidavit of Darrel Noel Monette, Apr. 28, 2026, paras. 36, 38 and Ex. "A". Justice M.H. Bourque approved the sale on May 1, per the Hafford Sale Approval and Vesting Order, May 1, 2026, para. 2. It closed on May 13, and the $28.9 million in proceeds went to the syndicate once title was updated at the Saskatchewan land titles registry on May 25, per the Second Report of the Monitor, June 4, 2026, para. 25. Cattle sales paid out the other secured lender: by May 22 they had repaid the FCC facility in full, with FCC's legal fees, per the Third Affidavit of Darrel Monette, June 1, 2026, para. 20.

Two tracks and a hold date

The sale process for everything else was approved on June 12 by Justice R.W. Armstrong, per the recitals to the Arizona Sale Approval and Vesting Order, Aug. 19, 2026, p. 2, and the stay was extended the same day to November 13, per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, para. 5. The monitor runs one track, for an en bloc sale, investment or refinancing; brokers in each jurisdiction run the other, for individual farms, seed processing facilities and cattle ranches. The syndicate's agent must consent to list prices, to which bids qualify and which win, and to any change in timelines. A Canadian land sale at $30 million or less may use an expedited approval process, which does not extend to assets in the United States. The monitor noted that the applicants own about 275,000 acres, concentrated in Saskatchewan, and that "this amount of farmland hitting the market all at once will be unprecedented and accordingly it is yet to be determined how the market will absorb the supply," per the Second Report of the Monitor, June 4, 2026, paras. 54–56, 65–68.

Marketing began on June 29, with teasers to about 208 financial and strategic parties. Binding bids are held until September 1 before any is named a winner and are due by October 15; approval is to be sought by October 31 for bids in by the hold date and by November 30 for the rest. The British Columbia listing waited until July 31 while the group chose between two brokers, per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, paras. 35, 37, 39–40. By August 10, Mr. Monette deposed, the group was negotiating or responding to bids on real property that included assets in Arizona and Montana, per the Fourth Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Aug. 10, 2026, para. 15.

What the Aguila sale carries

The group's Arizona assets on the market are the Aguila farm, the produce cooler and the seed facility, the last two at 39332 West Camelback Road. Byner's agreement covers the farm alone; the cooler and seed facility, relisted together at US$5 million, are still being marketed. The broker contacted 17 prospective purchasers directly, one party toured the property on request, and Byner's first expression of interest came by email on July 7. Its offer was the only one received for the farm, and the monitor, the lenders' agent and the group agreed to designate it a successful bid, per the Fourth Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Aug. 10, 2026, paras. 17–20, 22, under the hold-date provision that lets those three name a winner before September 1, per the SISP Procedure, June 12, 2026, para. 28. The group's April cash-flow assumptions had already recorded that "Arizona produce production has materially reduced," and the Arizona seed facility was not operating, per the Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Apr. 17, 2026, para. 168(b) and p. 20, n. 3.

The purchased lands are the scheduled parcels with their wells, pumps, pipelines and irrigation equipment, their water rights, and the seller's interest in leases from the Arizona State Land Department. The schedule lists sixteen fee parcels and six leasehold parcels under three state leases, and a fixtures page counts thirteen wells, a Valley lateral sprinkler, eight 10,000-bushel grain tanks and a 70-foot truck scale. Byner "shall not be required to close on a partial conveyance" if the documents and consents for assigning the state leases have not been delivered, and if the seller fails that condition by the closing date, Byner may terminate and recover its earnest money, per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, App. "B", ss. 1.1(w), 7.2(c), 10.2 and Sched. A. The other conditions are approval by both courts, the re-registration of the state leases to the Monette entity before their transfer, a ten-day window for Byner to disapprove after receiving the title commitment and a Phase I environmental report, and the transfer of certain deeds of covenant. The sale is as is, where is, and the 5% deposit sits with the title company until Byner approves the title commitment, per the Fourth Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Aug. 10, 2026, paras. 21, 23.

The reason given for the seal is that disclosing the agreement, "and in particular the purchase price, could impact any future sale process should the Arizona Transaction not close for any reason," per the Fourth Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Aug. 10, 2026, para. 24. The monitor supported both the sale and the seal. It called the sale "the best available alternative in the circumstances," said the price is supported by an appraisal in the sealed April affidavit, and said the sale is not expected to affect other land, investment or refinancing proposals "due to the location and distinct nature of the Arizona Purchased Assets," per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, paras. 50–51.

The order vests the farm free of the charges created in the CCAA proceeding and of The Bank of Nova Scotia's charges registered against the real property, but only on delivery of the monitor's closing certificate and subject to the Delaware court recognizing the order, approving the sale in its own right and vesting title. The net proceeds stand in the place of the land for priority purposes, and once title is registered in Byner's name the monitor may pay them to the syndicate, per the Arizona Sale Approval and Vesting Order, Aug. 19, 2026, paras. 5–9.

Harvest, and a date in Delaware

The interim facility's main purpose, the monitor says, was to fund spring seeding, and by the Third Report the group had seeded about 390,000 acres. For the ten weeks to July 31, receipts came in at $33.5 million against $45.1 million forecast, a gap the monitor attributes mainly to the timing of collections on the remaining 2025 grain, while disbursements ran $36.6 million against $51.0 million and $15.7 million went to interest on the senior debt. Cash at July 31 was about $12.3 million against a forecast $2.0 million, with $88.2 million of the $90 million facility drawn, per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, paras. 21, 24–26. The forecast to November 13 expects $105.3 million in receipts, $94.6 million of it grain, pays $18.0 million of senior interest in the week ending October 2, and ends with $5.0 million in cash and $84.3 million drawn. The monitor warns that the 2026 crop has not been harvested and that the revenue projections rest on estimated yields and current market prices "which are subject to material fluctuations," per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, paras. 27–28 and App. "A".

Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation asserts that about $1.9 million from a 2023/2024 overpayment identified on audit was due by August 15 and must be paid for the group to keep its 2026 crop insurance. The group, with the monitor and the DIP agent, was considering whether that is a pre-filing obligation and whether the insurer may end or interfere with coverage over it, per the Fourth Affidavit of Darrel Monette, Aug. 10, 2026, paras. 13–14.

The monitor, as foreign representative, said it would seek recognition of the Arizona order in Delaware "as soon as practicable," per the Third Report of the Monitor, Aug. 12, 2026, para. 52. On August 25, Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein signed a one-page order in Case No. 26-10547-LSS scheduling an omnibus hearing date for September 29, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. The order does not say what will be heard, per the Order Scheduling of Omnibus Hearing Date, Aug. 25, 2026, p. 1.