It seemed like a rare opportunity to bring agriculture to the fore when, in 2014, the United Nations’ General Assembly declared it to be the International Year of Family Farming. At the time, it said the declaration was to “raise the profile of family farming and smallholder farming by focusing world attention on its significant role in eradicating hunger… Read More
Grain prices gained a lot of ground this week as the complex was supported by a bullish WASDE report from the USDA and wet weather from Mother Nature. In contrast to last week, the hard red spring wheat ticker in Minneapolis was the only one in red this week. On the flip-side, corn and winter… Read More
Yet another undercover animal abuse video rolled out last week, filmed months ago by animal rights “activists,” and released just as tweets and photos celebrating June as Dairy Month began. In the same week, mainstream media published several stories following up on what many farmers had brought forward at the Standing Committee on Agriculture: that… Read More
Public speaking. For you 4-H-ers out there, you’ve probably competed in an agricultural-based public speaking competition before, whether it was to your excitement, or you were doing it because it was mandatory in your district. Growing up outside of the 4-H sphere, and not living in a big centre, these were skills I didn’t really… Read More
The first full week of trading in June was highly volatile for the grain markets, as the complex whipsawed around on continued planting concerns (namely Prevent Plant corn acres), weather forecasts, and fresh trade issues. Simply put, there are a lot of factors impacting the market and that’s why we saw some wild intraday swings… Read More
To end the month of May, grain prices took a bit of a hit on the last trading day of the month, with most crops on the futures board seeing double-digit losses. The complex was still able to squeak out some gains for the week (as shown below). Put simply, all those traders who were… Read More
Grain prices again found significant gains this past week as the complex continued to price in weather and corresponding production risks, especially in the U.S. Midwest. The weekly performance was augmented by a significant rally on Friday that saw corn prices jump 14 cents/bushel and Chicago wheat climbing 19 cents! With the forecast for the… Read More
There was a time when the USMCA negotiation dominated agricultural trade headlines. But that was before the U.S./China trade war standoff. Still, the importance and momentum on ratifying the “new NAFTA” needs to continue. For Canadian agricultural exporters, NAFTA was deemed a success during its tenure, and the USMCA holds the majority of that export-dependent… Read More
As many western Canadian producers are passed the halfway point of seeding, American Midwestern farmers are still barely scratching dirt thanks to continuous rains. Grain markets have started to acknowledge some of this latter risk, in addition to the benefit of a second round of trade war aid from President Trump. Looking more continental, the… Read More
By Cam Dahl, president of Cereals Canada The world has become protectionist. There is, justifiably, much focus on issues with China. But it is not just China. Canadian agriculture commodities are blocked in India, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam and face issues in key markets such as Peru. Countries are turning inward, finding new ways… Read More
So your winter wheat crop is looking rough and you plan to abandon it and plant another crop when the field dries up. What will you plant? RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson has one word for you — corn. When it comes to the health of Ontario soils, Johnson believes farmers in the province are already… Read More
Holy cow, or should I say holy plant — there’s a lot to choose from when you head to the meat aisle at the grocery store. With time, and as demand for niche food rises, consumers will have even more options available than ever before. Recently, I got a little confused with all that’s in… Read More
Grain markets ended the week deep in the red as complex dealt with a myriad off bearish factors, capped off by the May 2019 WASDE report from the USDA. Said WASDE report, U.S.-China trade war talks breaking off, and weak U.S. grain export sales was just too much to offset any bullish dynamic from Mother… Read More
Some things are a fad — like fanny packs — whose popularity seems inexplicable, but wanes quickly. A fad, even as terrible as a fanny pack, can and does come full circle, as it is now, but it’s rare that its popularity will stand the test of time. A trend, however, is usually larger, more… Read More
Grain market continue to pull back in the last full week of trading in April as bearish demand and supply issues are keeping the bears in control. For the week, there was some negative positioning of sorts as the bears pushed contracts from the May to the July 2019 contracts on the futures boards. One… Read More