Grains had a big week in the markets with everything ending in the green thanks to wet weather in the U.S. Midwest, and drier weather in Western Canada and Europe. November canola on the Winnipeg exchange nearly touched $12/bu, winter corn and soybean contracts pushed above $4/bu and $10/bu (respectively) in Chicago, and we’re starting… Read More
Category: Opinion
Not that I’m getting old (!), but back in the 1980s I was long into adulthood when the craft beer movement started, at least as far as I see it now. That’s when the spirit of the West led an entrepreneur outside of Calgary to create Big Rock beer, which remains one of my favourites…. Read More
It’s our own complacency that brought on the threat of antimicrobial resistance, says Trisha Dowling, a professor of veterinary clinical pharmacology at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine. “We got complacent just pretty much thinking there was a pill for every ill. So there’s been a whole lot of use of antibiotics just in case someone or… Read More
Grain prices started falling back this week as moisture finally hit some areas of Western Canada and reported decent conditions of already-planted crops in the Midwest. There are, however, a significant amount of soybean acres that still have not been planted in major states like Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa because of persistent wet conditions. Ultimately,… Read More
The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has tallied up the in-season bee death numbers for both 2014 and 2015 (planting only), and the numbers are nothing short of staggering. The PMRA recently reported to the federal bee health roundtable that during the planting period there was roughly a 70% decrease in the number of reported… Read More
Grain prices ended the week lower with rains arriving in some major growing regions. The market’s main focus now is on where rain is falling, and in what quantities, specifically eyeing Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, & Iowa where a fair amount of acres still have to go in. SovEcon recently raised their expectations for the Russian crop to… Read More
I’ve often wondered what would happen if I moved my dairy farm to Toronto’s Yonge and Eglinton. I’d take some floor space out in a nearby building and then open the doors to let the cows come and go as the please. Free-range is all the rage, anyway. I wouldn’t feed them myself though, I’d… Read More
Crop quality was the big question on the mind of the market for this first week of June, as the entire grains and oilseed complex moved higher. Despite seeing the largest one-day drop for the U.S. dollar earlier in the week since 2013 (it rebounded on Friday), weather issues were completely at the steering wheel… Read More
If you’re keeping tabs on Ontario’s beef industry this Local Food Week, you’ve seen how a company’s profile can grow when it markets its brand effectively, promotes itself tirelessly, and stands on values instead of gimmicks. A prime example is VG Meats, which seems to be popping up everywhere. VG stands for Van Gronigen, a… Read More
Grains saw a choppy end to the trading month of May as government reports seemed to sway the market the most. Corn and wheat prices on the futures board saw their values fall as USDA crop progress reports reminded everyone that a lot of corn is already in the ground and that wheat crops in… Read More