If you are interested in politics and economics like I am there is no more interesting fodder every night on the television than in the United States. I love debates and conflict on topics and the US has no shortage of them right now. Whether you are right, left or moderate you cannot deny the… Read More
Category: Markets
By Dick Haney At the risk of sounding like the Saturday Night Live character Debbie Downer, there is a potential evil that lurks among us; it is how we leverage equity in our operations to buy more agricultural farm land. I think it would be useful to examine the similarities between Las Vegas and financial… Read More
In the last week I have received several emails and phone calls from people regarding whether or not the Federal Conservatives should have killed the Potash deal with BHP or not. One of the interesting emails I received was from Barry Senft the CEO of the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO). Senft and the Grain… Read More
Last week BHP’s bid to purchase Potash Corp was killed by the Federal Government. Led by Brad Wall, Saskatchewan Premier there was a very vocal opposition and the deal was squashed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Federal Conservatives. What has been treated like a vote on the sovereignty of Saskatchewan, there has been jubilation from many farmers… Read More
Unless you have been hiding under a rock this week you probably have heard about the Canadian Federal Government killing the BHP acquisition of Potash Corp. Saskatchewan holds a significant amount of the world’s potash and the more people I talk to the more that I realize this is more than just about selling a… Read More
Today the CWB released the October PRO’s and the result was a modest increase in comparison to what some thought. With the recent run in corn, the coarse grain complex has some bullish weight behind it. To wrap up the PRO’s, I talked to Jonathan Driedger from FarmLink Marketing Solutions. (SEE THE VIDEO BELOW) One… Read More
As we discussed with Dana Omland from Palmerston Grain last week, the USDA report shocked the market. With corn yields being revised lower in the US, many producers are wondering what is the deal with the next year of commodity prices. Will we see a repeat of 2007 or a quick trade and then the… Read More
As an exporting nation, Canada has a history of relying on a low currency. Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past four years, the Canadian dollar no longer enjoys this low value luxury. Many producers who export are very concerned about the value of the Canadian dollar and some of the… Read More
The market just continues to get tossed around based on acreage, yield and carry out numbers from Stats Can and the USDA. Today it was the USDA’s turn as they broke the news that they have revised their corn yield estimates down to 155 bu per acre from 160 bu per acre. It has been… Read More
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