Many industries have been dramatically impacted by COVID-19 over the past three months. Whether it is agriculture, airlines, food service, or energy, it has been a very bumpy ride. Not all industries are impacted equally, from a timing perspective. One of the industries that faces longer term challenges is equipment manufactures in the agriculture and… Read More
Father’s Day for many farm families involves a BBQ, gifts, maybe some golf, and likely some farm work if the weather is right for spraying. Like mothers, fathers play an integral role in the family farm business. For any family business there are smooth days, rocky ones and outright turbulent days that test the ties… Read More
Is a profitable farm the most successful farm? Or is it the largest land base, the one with the newest equipment? Or is it the one whose operator takes a vacation every year or has the lowest debt? Earlier this week, we talked to Dr. Greg Ibendahl, of Kansas State University, and we talked about… Read More
The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) has released its flash report for May 2020 new machinery deliveries. The trend from prior months has continued as Canadian sales are down significantly while U.S. sales are more stable to 2019. In both countries the under 40 hour power tractor category has been the strongest in comparison to… Read More
Lemken has announced that the company is exiting the sprayer business. The company says it plans to “strengthen its mechanical weed control, plus selective crop care business” instead. Lemken’s sprayer line-up was never sold in North America, but it does indicate the direction that some manufacturers may take due to the increased appetite for mechanical… Read More
Every year there is a hot spot of adversity for farmers, where it feels like Mother Nature does not cooperate and farmers must adjust and shift their agronomic strategies daily. In 2020, the winner of the awful adversity prize seems to be the Peace River region of Alberta. A late harvest in 2019 that is… Read More
Over the past month I’ve been asking commodity analysts and economists to speculate on whether we would see a $0.65 or $0.75 dollar first. All but one analyst replied — generally with great resolve — that $0.65 was the correct bet. That is not looking to be the case at at this point, as the… Read More
With tensions rising between the U.S. and China in the last ten days, questions are mounting regarding China’s ability to meet its Phase One trade deal obligations. China provided a major shot across the U.S. bow early Monday (June 1) when Reuters reported that President Xi had instructed Chinese state-owned COFCO and Sinograin to quit… Read More
Live cattle futures have been slowly chipping way at the drastic declines experienced earlier this year due to COVID-19. In the last 30 days, the June cattle future has climbed $15.45 to just under $100. At its lowest point, in early April, the June future was $76.60. With U.S. cash trading between $115 and $120… Read More
Rural communities need certain basic functions to survive in the long term. Whether it’s medical service, the local school, rural broadband, or a dry goods store, rural communities struggle to keep enough services around. Could mail delivery be one the next big battles to keep alive? For many rural communities in Canada, Canada Post is… Read More
Canada and the U.S. have experienced very similar paths of food system disruption due to COVID-19. Both countries have seen the fall in restaurant demand and packers going offline, followed by milk dumping, animals being euthanized, and consumers hyperventilating over shortages of toilet paper and ground beef. Although they’ve experienced the same impacts and stress… Read More
The B.C. Supreme Court released its decision regarding the issue of double criminality in the extradition case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou on Wednesday. Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes ruled the trial should proceed, saying the crime Meng is accused of by U.S. prosecutors would also be a crime in Canada. Farmers in Canada have… Read More
Although revenues and profits were lower in the second quarter at John Deere, the stock market took a “not as bad as I thought” approach on Friday. At press time, stock was trading higher on the news. According to CNBC, the construction equipment maker reported fiscal second-quarter earnings of $2.11 per share, compared to the… Read More
It has been a real struggle for meat packers to hold or build slaughter capacity during the COVID-19 outbreak. Not too long ago analysts thought slaughter levels would not increase to 80% of capacity until mid summer but in both Canada and the U.S., the weekly slaughter is climbing back faster than first thought. The… Read More
It has been a very difficult two months for beef producers in Canada due to the COVID-19 market disruption, but they are not alone. At the centre of the plant shutdowns has been the packing plant workers, hundreds of whom have fallen ill or not known if it was really safe to go to work…. Read More