On July 30, the Minneapolis Grain Exchange launched a new futures contract for feed barley, designed to look after the thriving central California market for barley. But the MGE isn’t just counting on U.S. interests to help make the contract successful. Canadian buyers and end-users have figured in the exchange’s plans when it was considering […] Read more
Stories by Colleen Munro
Farmers may need to compete for world’s water
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Farmers will have to start competing with the environment and city dwellers for water supplies. In some places, the wrestling match is already taking place, said Sandra Postel, director of the Global Water Policy Project in Cambridge, Mass. “As water becomes increasingly scarce, we’re going to have competition for that water increase,” […] Read more
Market Watch
Crops fill up U.S. fields It’s plain from the United States Department of Agriculture’s June acreage estimates just how much extra acreage farmers planted this year once Uncle Sam got out of the way. After more than a year of wrangling, the U.S. government eventually compromised and passed the Republican-authored 1997 Farm Bill in late […] Read more
Board’s wheat price forecast bucks U.S. futures market trend
SASKATOON – The Canadian Wheat Board lowered its monthly price projections for the 1995 spring wheat and durum crop, but not as drastically as American futures markets have fallen in the same time. The board shaved $5 per tonne off spring wheat estimates and $8 per tonne off durum estimates. It said the 1997 No. […] Read more
Grazing reduces feed costs
SASKATOON – If last fall’s cheap calf prices didn’t drive the lesson home, the harsh winter of 1995-96 was the ultimate teacher: The biggest cost when raising cattle is feeding them. And the difference in finding affordable feed and feeding for fewer days can mean the difference between a profit and a loss, even with […] Read more
Old crop top is likely in
Is the top in? With the recent slide in grain markets, there’s no doubt the question is an obvious, if not frequent, one. The answer is less obvious. While high prices have been a boon for farmers, Charlie Pearson of Grower’s Marketing Service in Winnipeg said buyers like millers and importers haven’t been able to […] Read more
Machinery wish lists vary with strategy
Farming is a capital-intensive business; just peek inside any farmer’s quonset. Gathering up the right components of a machinery complement is one of the challenges facing young farmers as they build viable businesses. But each of the four groups of young farmers revealed by The Western Producer-Angus Reid Group survey has different ideas as to […] Read more
Information services to play key role
The most expansionary and innovative farmers are also the ones who will make greatest use of information sources five years from now, survey results indicate. While 76 percent of all young farmers are very or somewhat likely to use online computer information services, for example, the figure jumps to 99 percent for Progressive Producers and […] Read more
MARKET WATCH
Canola gets more attention It has taken new-crop futures prices of $10 a bushel, but Canada’s Cinderella crop is getting more attention from potential suitors. Weather during the ball may also affect how much canola Western Canadian farmers grow. While most farmers were seeding furiously during the last weekend of May, that’s too late for […] Read more
YOUNG FARMERS LOOK FORWARD
What plans does the coming generation of young farmers have to survive and prosper in the radically changed world of agriculture in the 21st century? What business strategies and philosophies will they use to cope with challenges ranging from freight-rate deregulation to complex new technology? To gain some insight into these issues, The Western Producer […] Read more
