Weather events, political drama, and moisture concerns in the Dakotas and Western Canada. They’re all factors that could move the wheat market in 2018. It’s just a case of where, when and to what extend. In this report from the recent Grain World conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Matthew Pot is joined by Rhyl Doyle from… Read More
Year: 2017
A major highlight for the Canadian cattle industry every November is Canadian Western Agribition. Between the rodeo, cattle sales, tradeshows, auctioneer championships and the general family fun, Agribition brings industries together in Regina, SK. There is something special about Agribition on the cattle show circuit. – Chris Lane, CEO of Agribition. There were some unique… Read More
As Western Canadian farmers seek another crop to add to their rotations, seed and crop input suppliers are preparing for another increase in soybean acres on the prairies in 2018. The area where soybeans are being grown has expanded across much of Saskatchewan and into southern and central Alberta, creeping north of highway 16 near… Read More
A robot that zaps unwanted organisms with lasers may describe a character in a science fiction plot, but in reality, it’s a technological response to farming with high labour costs. The Jäti is a battery-powered autonomous crawler built by a pair of German companies that is designed to identify weeds and destroy them with laser… Read More
This week the Ontario government passed Bill 148, the Fair Workplaces Better Jobs Act. Among other changes to workplace laws, it will mean an increase in the province’s minimum wage, from $11.60 to $14 on January 1, and $15 on the same day in 2019. With other provinces potentially following suit, the potential impacts are… Read More
Grain markets this week were fairly muted due to a shortened trading week at the Chicago Board of Trade. While Americans were crushing turkey and NFL football, Chinese import data was published, showing that they bought over 480,000 tonnes of vegetable oils in October — that’s a 78% increase year-over-year. Palm oil prices popped as… Read More
Cattle markets have dropped off their highs from a few weeks ago, but they’re still well ahead of where they were last year at this time. The February live cattle contract, for example, is up 28 percent in the last year. “We’ve had solid markets all the way around,” says Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock… Read More
In today’s episode of the show: Top Ag News Anne Wasko, Gateway Livestock, joins for the Beef Market Update, and what we can expect from now into the New Year. Jeff English of ThinkShift; Andrew Campbell, dairy farmer from Ontario; and RealAgriculture’s Kelvin Heppner join host Shaun Haney to discuss trade deals, minimum wage, farm group… Read More
A Guelph-based start-up company that has patented a process for isolating glycogen from sweet corn for cosmetic products is receiving $1 million in federal funding. Guelph MP Lloyd Longfield made the announcement at Mirexus Biotechnologies on Friday. “The new plant will allow us to produce our unique material for markets around the world, leading to… Read More
Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced six programs that will receive a total of $1 billion in federal funding under the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP) at Agribition in Regina on Friday. The six programs to be offered under the new agricultural policy framework slated to begin on April 1, 2018 are named: AgriMarketing, AgriCompetitiveness,… Read More
China’s insatiable appetite for soybeans will continue to provide support for the oilseed crop through the next year. It will also be the catalyst for soybean acreage to surpass corn for the first time in 2018, says Bill Lapp, president of Advanced Economic Solutions. He shared his oilseed outlook during a panel discussion at the… Read More
Happy Thanksgiving to our American counterparts! Unfortunately, says host Shaun Haney, politics appears to be dividing us — even dividing families. We need to do a better job of disagreeing. We need to be able to engage in discussion, and actually learn from other points of view. What do you think? Are you seeing the… Read More
We often focus our efforts on what to add to a total mixed ration in order to offer our animals the highest plane of nutrition necessary for their life stage. But, what about the substances that could create serious health concerns, or even death? “Moulds are a fungal growth, and the mycotoxins are actually a… Read More
We’ve read headlines about a future with robots in the field and witnessed the unveiling of a few self-driving prototypes at farm shows over the past few years, but there probably hasn’t been a single event that collected as many of these concepts and products as Agritechnica in Hanover, Germany last week. The innovation in… Read More
For decades, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture has provided pointed advice to provincial politicians seeking to win power in the country’s most populous province. Typically, the provincial farm organization could be counted on to lobby for infrastructure investment and renewed commitment to support stronger risk management and cutting red tape. Those issues are still priorities,… Read More