November is always a very interesting time for the markets. Analysts begin to have an idea of the crop volume and quality and farmers and looking to solidify their new crop marketing plans and are already beginning to think about planting intentions for the coming spring. Farmers also have to increasingly pay attention to the… Read more »
Category: Economy & Financial Markets
Canada is the Largest Importer Of U.S. Processed Food, Doubling Second-Place Mexico
Trade between the NAFTA nations has become mainstream news on a daily basis. Trade relations between Canada and the United States seems to be getting cooler as the battle over lumber, energy, and dairy heats up. The Canadian and American agriculture economies are very linked and, as highlighted by Kevin Grier in his March edition of… Read more »
The US Raises Interest Rates and the Canadian Dollar Goes Up – What is Going On?
Markets move up and down on news, anticipation and results. The currency market has some somewhat predictable drivers of the value of a given country’s currency. This past week, the United States Federal Reserve raised interest rates 0.25% and the impact in the Canadian Dollar value against the US dollar was a head scratcher. Although… Read more »
Grain Market Moves this Week: It’s Not All Politics
Grain markets are closing out the month of January with not a lot of love as weather stabilizes in South American and President Donald Trump following through on a lot of campaign promises (first politician to ever do so?), which is creating more doubts about international demand and/or markets for U.S. agricultural products. From a performance… Read more »
David Frum’s Advice for the Prime Minister on Dealing with Trump
As Donald Trump takes office in the United States, questions abound regarding the impact of his promised economic, environmental, foreign, and trade policies. There’s optimism in the agricultural regions of the U.S, as the president-elect has promised a major reduction of government agency regulation. The American people wanted something different in Washington and that is what they appear… Read more »
Grains Markets 2016: Bullish Headlines & Bearish Facts
Grain markets headed lower this week as the market dealt with lower volume and profit-taking ahead of the winter holidays. Since last Friday, the Canadian Loonie lost 1.4% to head into the Christmas weekend below 74 cents USD as Trump economic policies that are trickling out continue to support the U.S. economy more than they… Read more »
Holiday Traditions — This Week in the Grain Markets
Grains markets cruised through the middle of December slightly lower to unchanged as export and domestic demand numbers tried to offset some changing monetary policy from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The U.S. Dollar climbed 1.3% for the week, making U.S.-based grains more expensive relative other origins. Oats was the only thing that made the green… Read more »
Feeling Great Again? — This Week in the Grain Markets
One week after Donald Trump was voted in as the next President of the United States of America, the U.S. Dollar hit a 14-year high and surprisingly, commodities didn’t tank. After a volatile election and W.A.S.D.E. week, all grains ended up for the week, led by oats which gained 2.8% since last Friday. Corn was… Read more »
U.S. Election Tops Concerns for the Canadian Economy: BMO’s Chief Economist
Anti-trade messages from both U.S. presidential candidates are undoubtedly troubling for the future of the Canadian economy, especially in export-oriented sectors like agriculture. “That to me would be the number one concern when we look over the next six months — what happens in the U.S. election and what happens afterwards,” said Douglas Porter, chief economist… Read more »
Commodity Analysts, Traders and Media React to Brexit Decision
The United Kingdom voted and the markets reacted. If you are a political or economics junkie, it was must-watch coverage of the BREXIT vote night. United Kingdom voters decided by a slight majority to leave the European Union. As one would expect, with “leave” or “stay”, the markets would react. The Pound Sterling rocked lower through the… Read more »
Canadian Dollar Expected to Settle Down into “Sideways, Softer Tone”
The Canadian dollar could be settling in for some quieter time after a wild ride over the last year. In May 2015, the loonie traded at over 83 cents US. It then went for a slide, bottoming out in mid-January at around 68 cents before rallying aggressively, touching 80 cents in early May. The dollar has since retreated down to around… Read more »
Increased Productivity Needed to Support Aging Canadian Population — Andrew Coyne
The ratio of workers to retirees in Canada has historically been around 5 to 1, however it’s trending toward 2 to 1 in the next few decades. The implications this will have for government and the labour market was the topic of Andrew Coyne’s talk at the Growing the Agri-Workforce Summit, as ag industry people from… Read more »
In Saskatchewan a New Winning Attitude is Creating a Culture of Excellence
The winds of change have blown through Canada. No longer is Alberta on top of the Canadian economic machine. Ontario is no longer the manufacturing super power. The word ‘Conservative’ cannot be found in the name of any governing provincial party and no one is joking about the attitude of Saskatchewan. “Excellence is not a… Read more »
TWORA — Canada’s Economic Tractor & the Farmer’s Side of the Story — Jan 21
We’re talking about everything from the state of the US and Canadian economies to SaskCanola’s effort to share how many farmers view modern ag technology through the “License to Farm” film. After spending most of the week at Ag Days in Brandon, Kelvin Heppner host of this week’s news podcast and is joined by a… Read more »
Agriculture Poised to Play Larger Role With Decline of Oil — Jeff Rubin’s Perspective
Agriculture is poised to play a much larger role in the Canadian economy thanks to impacts of climate change and declining revenues from oil extraction, says well-known author and economist Jeff Rubin. “Climate change has fatal implications for our previous ambitions of becoming an energy superpower, but it’s going to make other assets and resources in… Read more »