WASHINGTON, D.C. – American agriculture secretary Dan Glickman chose a press conference of national farm writers to make a not-so-subtle appeal for farmers to exercise their freedom under the new farm bill and plant more. “I would encourage farmers to take the early-out option,” Glickman said of a rule in the 1996 Freedom to Farm […] Read more
Stories by Colleen Munro
Herbicide manufacturers tussle over Muster tank mix
SASKATOON – Two manufacturers of competing grassy weed herbicides are publicly wrangling over which is the best product to mix with Muster. Muster is a herbicide registered for use in canola, manufactured by DuPont Canada. It controls broad-leaf weeds, notably wild mustard. If farmers also want to control grassy weeds in their canola crops when […] Read more
Supply, demand and high prices
Perhaps Rick Andersen checked reports from the Chicago Board of Trade and its sister exchange in Kansas City before he gave his address to the joint meeting of the Saskatchewan and Alberta Institute of Agrologists. The former farm boy from southern Alberta, a University of Alberta agriculture graduate, is now senior vice-president of Sparks Companies […] Read more
Inventor a wizard with water
SASKATOON – Irrigating is a chore that takes Edwin Bronsch half the time it used to. The Tilley, Alta. farmer has invented a tractor-mounted auger that bores a true hole through the bank of an irrigation ditch. Then he inserts a plastic irrigation pipe into the hole. Now, rather than having to carry a spade […] Read more
MARKET WATCH
Farmers should manage risk What a week. The action in U.S. commodity markets has been mesmerizing. Corn and soft red wheat in Chicago, hard red wheat in Kansas City and dark northern spring wheat futures in Minneapolis all eclipsed all-time high prices. May wheat in Chicago and Kansas City, broke through the $6 per bushel […] Read more
Low corn plantings, stocks send futures to record levels
& Reuter News Agency news SASKATOON – American farmers will plant more corn this year, but not enough to replenish dwindling stocks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in two reports released last week. In its annual prospective planting report, USDA reported farmers will plant 79.2 million acres to their staple crop. That projected 11 […] Read more
U.S. agriculture predicts more durum, spring wheat
SASKATOON (Staff) – Higher prices have bought a few more acres of spring wheat and durum into the northern United States. The United States Department of Agriculture forecasts overall wheat acreage will increase by about six percent to 73.1 million acres, including 52 million acres of winter wheat. USDA predicts spring wheat acreage will increase […] Read more
Pondering pool returns
Farmers who watch the Canadian Wheat Board’s price estimates might be forgiven if they have a sense of deja vu when they see the latest numbers. In the March pool return outlook for the 1996-97 crop year, the board predicted prices for No. 1 Canada Western amber durum will likely fall somewhere between $208 and […] Read more
Canola contract delivery concerns
Not all the grumbling about the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange’s re-designed canola contract has subsided. Farmers who attended a day-long meeting of the Saskatchewan Can-ola Growers’ Association (see story on page 16) told exchange officials they feel shut out because they can’t deliver canola against a futures contract. The Canada Canola Growers’ Association unsuccessfully tried to […] Read more
Contracts open for wheat, barley
SASKATOON (Staff) – The Canadian Wheat Board is accepting all the wheat and half the barley offered by farmers under Series C contracts. The board said while there should be ample sales to cover all wheat offered for delivery, a decline in feed barley prices and an uncertain market outlook led it to accept just […] Read more
