Something is happening in China’s corn market but crop data and other information from the country is so muddy it’s impossible to tell what is really going on. Every few years some analyst in the grain industry forecasts that “very soon” China will begin to import vast amounts of corn because its farmers will be […] Read more
Author Archives
Getting ready for lab-grown food probably a good idea
Lab-grown meat — for most, that does not sound like an enticing meal option. But even as the agriculture industry grapples with the implications of plant-based protein production intruding into what traditionally is the preserve of livestock-based protein, it might soon have to come to terms with the even more disruptive technology of precision fermentation. […] Read more
La Nina likelihood increases, posing risk in South America
National weather services around the world are firming up forecasts for a La Nina to develop this fall and last through the Northern Hemisphere winter. La Ninas in the fall-winter season tend to deliver wet weather to Australia and dry weather to the United States hard red winter wheat belt in the southern plains. La […] Read more
Bad news about wheat might be factored into the market
While the grain market last week devoted most of its attention to the strong pace of United States crop exports, a severe storm in the Midwest and the monthly supply and demand report, wheat watchers wondered if a seasonal low had been reached. The area around US$5 per bushel has been a level of technical […] Read more
Prairie research examines hydrogen potential
In a decade or two, farmers might show as much interest in hydrogen prices as they do to diesel prices today. Electric battery power might have captured most of the limelight in the field of advanced vehicle technology in the past decade, but talk about hydrogen fuel cells has occupied a lot of space in […] Read more
Veg oil rally gives canola much welcomed momentum
November canola futures broke above technical resistance as July came to an end, supported by strong vegetable oil markets, strong sales of United States new crop soybeans and continuing crusher and exporters demand for canola. It would be good to see the contract hit that nice round $500 a tonne mark, a level not reached […] Read more
Palm and crude’s oilseed support might have plateaued
There is potential for strong canola yields this year if the weather holds and the same can be said of United States soybean yields and yet oilseed futures edged a little higher last week. The most obvious reason for the modest price strength was the strong export sales of U.S. soybeans to China during the […] Read more
Biden would change trade policy if elected president
Much can happen before the November United States presidential election but at this point the vast majority of polls show a win for Joe Biden so let’s peak into what that might mean for agriculture on both sides of the border. Biden’s campaign website has a page devoted to the Democratic nominee’s plan for rural […] Read more
Business climate as vital as water in irrigation success
Water is a necessary, but not sufficient resource to make the proposed $4 billion expansion of Lake Diefenbaker’s irrigation area a success. The stable water resource and the increased agricultural output it should produce must be the carrot that attracts investment into value-added processing that will multiply the economic activity that generates jobs, spin-off enterprises, […] Read more
Canadian ag exports benefit from COVID disruptions
May was an excellent month for Canadian agricultural exports. COVID-19 hammered the economy in Canada and around the world, upending many supply chains and hurting much but also creating opportunities. For example, Canadian exports of pork, beef and poultry reached a little more than $800 million, marking a one month record that was almost 19 […] Read more
