The Alberta & Saskatchewan Cattle on Feed report came out last week and a number of over arching themes emerged. The small herd numbers are evident when we take a look at feed yard placement numbers and heifer retention. The strong calf prices seem to be driving that heifer retention as ranchers consider replentishing the… Read More
Expect the unexpected is one of those phrases we’ve been trained to associate with something negative. In the reality of this global economic situation, that is understandable. Sometimes however, we get an unexpected silver lining type situation. The story surrounding our Canadian dollar and our cattle exports is one of those. A weaker dollar,(even if… Read More
What will the corn market look like as we head into harvest? What are those key factors that will affect the market between now and Christmas? Weather is one of those elements always in play as temperatures threaten to impact quality in areas of the U.S.. Demand is another factor keeping analysts on their toes… Read More
The bull train is alive and well in soybeans right now. Just look above at the November future for soybeans and you can see quite clearly that the market likes this commodity right now. Whether its hedgers or speculators, no one can argue that the rise has been on the steep incline. For some people… Read More
Overall the wheat harvest in Ontario has gone well. Some areas have experienced lower than ideal yields but the quality has been very good. With corn and soybeans showing strength the concern or opportunity for Ontario wheat growers is quite interesting. What impact will one million wheat acres have on price? Will the high levels… Read More
I was driving home tonight thinking about some of the most interesting people that we have interviewed since the RealAgriculture.com started in the fall of 2008. One of the first people that popped into my head was Ian Cummings. Ian is a dairy farmer that moved his dairy farm to the US to avoid the… Read More
Demand for canola from crushers has remained strong throughout the summer months, stocks are tight and exports are good. That being said, harvest is just around the corner and a number of questions will be answered regarding actual acres and yield potential. Everyone is aware of the disastourous year that Western Manitoba and Easter Saskatchewan have… Read More
Rising feed prices, expensive oil and a high dollar have made it a difficult time to feed cattle. You can add to that the continued instability in financial markets around the world and it’s hard to imagine that our ability to compete hasn’t been heavily damaged. There is no doubt that the Canadian industry needs… Read More
The road to economic recovery in Canada is delicate. Growth has been moderate at best, with events around the world adding to that fragility daily. European countries are dealing with high deficits and attempting to balance budgets under the pressure of a frustrated and angry population. In the U.S., the debt ceiling debate, the inability… Read More
There have been a lot of numbers bounced around when it comes to total unseeded acres across the prairies. If you were to talk to five different people, you’d probably get five different numbers. The CWB estimates somewhere between 4 to 6 million acres have gone unseeded across the west. Those numbers tend to have… Read More
Corn drives the agriculture commodity complex which provides great coffee shop and water cooler fodder. Demand for corn has been strong and supplies have been tight which has made the market strong. One of the scenarios livestock producers were hoping for was for the 2011 crop to produce strong yields and a cushion in the… Read More
Does the canola market have room to climb further? Supply seems to be one of the main factors in the bid for a major break through $600/MT . Carry over from 2010 wasn’t that big, and demand is still good with crushers still processing. There are other reasons to think that supplies will remain tight… Read More
This week the USDA report really smacked the commodity market into a downward spiral on Wednesday. Most people said that the negative reaction was an over reaction but still it does wake some farmers up to the potential downward snap that this market can take. As Jon Driedger, FarmLiunk Marketing discusses below, this is great… Read More
We have all heard the saying, “what goes up must come down,” but does that maybe not apply to land values? This week FCC released its newest version of the Farm Credit Canada Farmland Values Report and the results continue to verify the upward trend of land values. It is becoming ever more difficult to… Read More
An important part of profitable farming is controlling input costs. A big part of controlling those costs involves figuring out when to buy. In most cases and if storage is available, pre-buying can be a very effective way to manage your input costs. Fertilizer is one of those inputs that can be pre-bought to great… Read More