Grain markets were mixed for the 3rd week of November, but winter wheat prices finally had a green week of performance thanks to strong export activity and concerns of how the 2020 crop is starting out. Supporting the cash markets has been the slow state of Harvest 2019 and farmers being less inclined to sell,… Read More
The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef held its general assembly at Christchurch, New Zealand, last week. As chair of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Anne Wasko was there and shares her insight and experience below: As the current chair of Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (CRSB), I was pleased to represent CRSB at the… Read More
Grain markets ended a shortened-trading week mostly in the red as the complex pulled back on concerns over a trade war deal getting done and ongoing weak demand fundamentals. While many analysts are saying that corn and soybeans are oversold and nearing technical support levels, the only thing that seems to be strengthening is basis… Read More
Canadian farmers have been caught in the crossfire of the strained U.S./China/Canada trade relations. Several crops, such as wheat and peas, have avoided being impacted negatively, while canola, pork, and beef exports have been targeted by the Chinese. Farmers have lashed out at the federal government for not forcing change, talking tougher, or being vocal… Read More
Grain markets entered November on a mixed-week of performance, but most grain prices did find some positive gains for the month of October. Canola and hard red spring wheat were the only futures markets who didn’t find positive gains in October, suggesting that the price run-up at the end of September might’ve priced in anticipated… Read More
Grain markets finished the fourth week of October with the same headlines running the complex: harvest weather/challenges and a trade war deal between the U.S. and China. Soybeans saw a big sell-off on Friday though as speculators sold off positions ahead of the weekend with no confirmed news of a deal between the world’s two… Read More
Connecting with consumers is a massive challenge for agriculture. The industry has developed several programs and groups to close those gaps, such as the Canadian Center for Food Integrity and Ag More Than Ever. But as we saw in Monday’s federal election, there is an ideological separation between the urban and rural population. That divide… Read More
Jubilant wouldn’t be the word I’d use the describe the majority of Canadians on this post-election day. That’s even truer in rural Canada. Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed a clear mandate in his victory speech, the strength of his government looks like one with its knees cut out from under it. Of course, it… Read More
Grain markets found some legs this week as snow and freezing temperatures started to hit the majority of North America’s major growing regions. A few other highlights include indicators that a U.S.-China trade war resolution may be found, as well as the October WASDE report, which was supportive of soybeans but bearish for corn and… Read More
Grain markets ended the week mostly in the green, thanks to a somewhat bullish U.S. quarterly stocks report, an expansion of the ethanol mandate and some challenging harvest weather. On Monday, the USDA served up its report for grain inventories in the U.S. as of September 1st, 2019. Going into the report, the market was… Read More
The 43rd federal election is less than three weeks away, and the chair of Soy Canada is wondering why agriculture hasn’t been brought up more during election debates. There’s a multitude of issues to be brought up, yet no party seems to really be keeping a close eye on farmers. In particular, Soy Canada chair,… Read More
The ag leaders debate on Tuesday night was a very entertaining two hours featuring lots of banter, blame, wild statements, and the frequent mention of climate change. The Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, and Green Party all had the chance to outline their respective party’s agricultural agenda for farmers across the country. But on that point, the… Read More
Weather has always been an external uncontrollable factor for farmers across the world. Besides having plants in a greenhouse, weather impacts all of us in terms of agronomy, the markets, and the food we buy at the store. Lately, all of this unpredictable weather has reminded some of us that we can be the victims;… Read More
Grain markets ended the third week September rather mixed as trade and export disappointments dragged down corn and soybean prices while wheat found gains on quality concerns. For corn, U.S. 2019/20 exports are tracking about 37 per cent behind last pace through this week, while China cancelled its farm visits, intuitively fading in optimism for… Read More
There comes a time when you’re scrolling through the Internet and find someone saying something a little out of line. Who am I kidding, this happens probably every hour on Twitter alone. This past week I came across one of those posts, but instead of it being an internet troll that hides behind their computer… Read More