When I was at CropWeek last January lentils were all the rage for farmers. With high prices and increasing acres many people, including myself thought the best thing to do was to forward sell 2010 crop at low 20’s to protect against a bearish market. Throw in a poor spring, a wet harvest and resulting… Read More
The question of how bullish is corn is really all the talk right now in coffee shops across the US and Canada. Producers and the industry are focused on this crop staple and what it is going to do through the winter. Will we see $6.00 corn shortly or is this just a short blip… Read More
This is appearing to be a difficult year to try and execute on a marketing plan that you can have conviction in. Between the late crop, uncertain yields, carry out numbers being questionable and fluctuating basis levels, farmers are really having their marketing plans tested. Even the most experienced analysts are questioning what is the… Read More
There and many different reasons for a company to want to make the “big deal.” Some are looking for efficiency, some strive for an increase in scope, and others just see the value at certain levels. Lately the agri-business sector is under intense media coverage with the running and gunning in the marketplace by company’s… Read More
One of the huge perks of this job is my ability to meet and interact with cool interesting people from across the country. I have had a chance to hear Jeffrey Simpson speak twice this summer. Jeffrey is the national affairs columnist at the Globe and Mail and also has received the Order of Canada… Read More
When planning for the upcoming planting in the fall, farmers need to look back and see what went good and what were the areas where they could of improved. In looking back on the Ontario 2010 wheat crop there were several things that a you could take and implement for the 2011 season. In this… Read More
You cannot turn the TV on most nights during the nightly news without hearing some sort of commentary on the state of the Canadian economy. Agriculture is very reliant on the health of the consumer. Farmers are trying to decipher job reports, GDP growth, interest rates, CPI and a dozen other economic indicators. One of… Read More
Just when you think the wheat market is stable and that the supply and demand equation is fully priced in the market……BOOM!!!!!! Russia and some neighbouring countries decide to have a drought and WALLA!!!……The market have decided to go 2007 on us again. Who can stomach this volatility and craziness? Is this real or just… Read More
Our family seed business, Haney Farms, held two plot tours this week which really gave me an opportunity to talk to a great cross section of farmers. One of the concerns that always comes up is the discussion about rising interest rates. Canadian farms are significantly levered even in comparison to our US neighbours. With… Read More
In the Canadian Wheat Board’s effort to provide more options to the Western Canadian farmer the FlexPro contract is back again. The deadline for signing up for the program is the end of the month. I talked to Jonathan Driedger, FarmLink Marketing Solutions on the advantages and disadvantages of the program and whether or not… Read More
During this past winter there was no bigger story in Western Canada than the hysteria around lentils. Saskatchewan is the lentil king in Canada and has also received an abundance of wet weather since early April. The lentil market is known to swing in big ways up and down but seems to be holding relatively… Read More
Last night I met a man whose family is heavily involved in agriculture but he did not grow up in the business so to speak. Recently after a successful career in another industry he decided to take a position within the family business in a senior management role. His comments about the industry were so… Read More
The Canadian Dollar is known as a commodity currency but as of late the European Union financial situation is playing havoc with the Canadian currency. Many feedyard and cattle ranchers are really getting stressed out by how violently the dollar has moved in the recent months. As we have mentioned before on this website, it… Read More
It is amazing how a lack of volatility in today’s feed grain markets almost makes a person nervous. Feeders and farmers don’t seem believe that the corn and barley markets can actually sit still and hold a broad trading range. It really is unbelievable how we have moved from an industry that expected feed prices… Read More
As I mentioned two weeks ago, 2010 is the year of indecision and that continues. On Wednesday the USDA released its 2010 acreage forecast and ending stock report. It is hard to not hear the reports and think that there is a bit of a bearish tone to the all the commodities involved. For example wheat… Read More