If there’s one crop that’s been generating buzz this month, it’s oats, followed closely by flax. A plugged supply chain for our export markets has several farmers exploring other viable crop options for the 2014 growing seasons. Hot on the heels of this, the federal government recently announced funding for the oat market to re-build… Read More
Category: Markets
The Canadian dollar has been very comfortable at par for quite some time. So much so, that it well and truly was the new normal. Recently, however, a few factors have converged to pressure the loonie’s value. The question is, is this a blip or a trend, and who wins and who loses in the… Read More
Nineteen years out of the last 23, you’d have saved money by pre-buying your fertilizer in the fall. Of course, fall application of fertilizer is subject to high rates of losses, potentially negating any savings and having a negative impact on the environment, and storing fertilizer isn’t always possible. So, it’s not surprising then that… Read More
Explosive. It’s the only way to describe beef cash prices out of the U.S. this January. Sure, yes, there was optimism about what 2014 would bring, but no one could have expected this giant jump in prices as the market resumed after the holidays. Need production info? Click here to see all 30 episodes of… Read More
An unattractive basis is meant to discourage grain sales, but what happens when farmers are willing to sell even then (cash is getting tight, y’all) but bids disappear entirely? Then you have the grain marketing mess that is early 2014. Hear more: Check out all our coverage from CropSphere 2014 Chuck Penner (@LeftFieldCR), with LeftField… Read More
While many of us industry types were getting back into routine this week, the bad weather hangover in Ontario was still raging. Our own Shaun Haney got hung up in Las Vegas while trying to get to the Southwest Agricultural Conference (SWAC), and even Bern Tobin, our Ontario field editor missed the first day do… Read More
While the fundamentals seem to hint at conditions being right for the Canadian cow herd to begin an expansion phase, it’s not happening. Cull rates of about 10% would signal ranchers building their herds; 2013 numbers will end up somewhere about 15%, a number more synonymous with liquidation than expansion. According to Brian Perillat, senior… Read More
If the NOTORIOUS B.I.G was a market analyst he would describe the current situation in Western Canada as, “Mo crop, mo problems” (was that a reach???). The 2014 Western Canadian crop is very large, on farm storage is full, railways are jammed and ports are shipping as much as they can. Get More: If you… Read More
Noting the decision was “not easy” but a “necessary one,” PotashCorp president and chief executive, Bill Doyle, announced this morning job cuts of over 1,000 for the company. The bulk of the jobs lost (approximately 440) will be in Saskatchewan, then the next highest will be in Florida (350) and New Brunswick (140. Many of… Read More
Selling grain can be as easy as a phone call, but that’s the exception, not the rule. What’s more, getting a deal done usually requires a bit of back and forth to get the terms that work for your farm. The easier it is for grain buyers and grain sellers to connect and negotiate, the… Read More
After skipping the October update due to the U.S. government shutdown, this morning’s USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report was much anticipated by traders and farmers alike. While bearish news abounded ahead of the report, especially on the corn side, many were hoping that added yield would be balanced by decreased acres… Read More
A three-year deal still needs to be ratified by workers, but Canadian National (CN) railway reports today that a tentative deal has been struck with the Teamsters union and a rail strike has been averted. The threatened strike would have crippled an already severely taxed logistics system trying to move the huge 2013 crop. As… Read More
Farmers who banked on moving crop in September are running into road blocks left and right, even on the eve of November. A bumper crop across most crop kinds in all three Prairie Provinces is taxing Western Canada’s railway service and elevators are at or near capacity, even with huge piles of grain being stored… Read More
Cigi (more formally the Canadian International Grains Institute) is on the receiving end of a Canadian government commitment to the tune of $6.4 million to establish a Moroccan National Durum Technical Training Centre (DTTC) in Casablanca. According to a Cigi press release, funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) over the… Read More
Who can complain about $1,000 calves, lower feed prices and actual positive feeding margins? Well maybe cash croppers….. It is starting to look like it is the beef producers turn to make some money in this economic tug-of-war. But wait, there are some issues standing in the way of profits and smooth sailing. As… Read More