On Monday afternoon I had the opportunity to sit down with Jon Driedger, a market analyst with FarmLink Marketing Solutions in Winnipeg. A day before the Canadian StatsCan acreage Report was released, Jon provided great insight into the dynamics facing the grains, oilseeds and pulse markets this summer and fall in North America. A special… Read More
I just listened to Bill Lapp, an economist with Advanced Economic Solutions speak about the outlook for commodities in Edmonton. Lapp was very interesting, candid and provided great insight into the commodity market. The key points that Lapp focused on were: Brazil, Russia, India and China have led the world growth over the last 10… Read More
Fertilizer prices have been on the minds of farmers all winter and that trend still continues into the spring. Almost every single day on RealAgriculture.com the fertilizer label or a fertilizer story is the most viewed page. I checked out Google Trends and the data on the search for the word fertilizer. You can type… Read More
This is part two of my interview with Jay Bradshaw from Syngenta Canada. In this interview Jay discusses Syngenta’s strategy in Canada and how the decreasing amount of farmers is changing Canadian agriculture. Jay also talks about commodity prices over the last two years and what he thinks farmers can expect in the future.
Today, President Obama visits Canada and sits down with Prime Minister Harper. Currently, the Democrats are using the poor economy as an excuse to push their protectionist agenda forward. Canada and Mexico need to be very aware of what is transpiring and how it will affect agriculture in the future. Please do not think that… Read More
Today I had a chance to talk to Jay Bradshaw, President of Syngenta Canada in his office in Guelph, Ontario. This is part 1 of several clips that I will be posting from my interview with Jay. In this clip, I asked Jay if there was reason for Canadian farmers to be optimistic in 2009… Read More
Larry Hicks of Cattlehedging.com was one of the keynote speakers at the Tiffin Conference yesterday in Lethbridge. Larry spoke about the necessity of risk management in the beef business. Larry very clearly outlined what hedging is and that there is much more involved than calling your broker to buy or sell futures contracts. He emphasized… Read More
John Scott, President, Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, spoke on the grocery market this morning in Lethbridge Alberta at the Tiffin Conference. John emphasized that grocers are trying to “be something” to the consumer. He emphasized that consumers are going to different stores to get different products. When I think my families purchasing habits we… Read More
Risk is well known board game, played on a map of the world, in which players effectively bet (take on calculated risk) and play to take over more and more countries and ultimately rule the world. I am just musing here, but if you were taking stock of countries and their respective currencies, would it… Read More
In my role at Haney Farms, I get to chat with many farmers from across the country which allows me to keep my finger on the pulse of the farming community. Another great way to further understand the pulse or the issues of farmers is to talk to equipment dealers, grain buyers and financiers to… Read More
Yesterday, I spent some time talking to Dr. Danny LeRoy, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Lethbridge.  We spoke at great length about the economy and the affect it will have on agriculture.  I was speaking to Dr. LeRoy for research that I was doing for my Grainews column.  To say that Dr. LeRoy… Read More
In the short life of RealAgriculture.com, by far the most interest has been in the fertilizer stories. Fertilizer prices are a very hot topic in newspapers, on the Internet and in the coffee shops across North America.  Due to the volatility of the fertilizer market over the past 12 months, the spread in pricing from one… Read More
I am sitting in my office completely drawn to CNBC’s coverage of the capitulation of the US economy. The story is riddled with denial, accusations and lack of clarity. The question that keeps on getting raised in our office is, “how does this affect our company.” The DOW is down 700 points and maybe headed… Read More
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