If social media is anything to go by in assessing public opinion, and really it is not, people are losing their minds over meat’s role in climate change. As is too often the case, the extreme positions dominate the discussion. On the one hand, if we don’t all become vegetarians or vegans we are evil […] Read more
Author Archives
Canada must work to save international rules-based order
Our experience with superpower conflict during the Cold War with Russia does not give us much guidance in our new challenges with China. For all its military might and geopolitical meddling, Russia and its bloc of Eastern European satellite states were never much of an economic power. China, however, has become the second largest economy […] Read more
New crop wheat price forecast looks similar to 2018-19
As the crop year counts down to its final weeks, Canadian wheat farmers have seen good demand for their product at prices similar to the previous year. Looking ahead to the coming crop year, global production is expected to recover somewhat from the tight crop of 2018-29 when the European Union, Russia and Australia all […] Read more
China’s meat import move risks stoking consumer anger
China’s rejection of all Canadian meat is a stunning act considering forecasts that pork prices there will rise 70 percent or more in the coming months, topping records hit in 2016, as its hog herd staggers under the onslaught of African swine fever. Pork is by far the most important meat in China and accounts […] Read more
Summer brings better weather but concerns remain
With the welcome recent rain in much of the Prairies, the immediate threat of a drought disaster in large areas has been put to rest. Later on I’ll update the currency market, but first we must note the wet weather here might be the first sign of a major reversal in trends that have to […] Read more
Market waits for news on soy acreage, yield and demand
Corn futures, the backbone of the grain market, last week hit the highest point since the summer of 2014. These were lifted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, reducing its estimate of corn seeded area and yield, as well as expectations that further cuts will come. Details of the report and speculation on how more […] Read more
April trade figures show China has hurt canola exports
We are starting to get numbers on how several issues are affecting Canada-China trade now that Statistics Canada released the April trade numbers. That was the month when China’s restrictions on imports of Canadian canola fully hit home. It was also the month when China’s problems with African swine fever really began to affect its […] Read more
Prairie drought adding to producers’ crop weather woes
Could this be the year that drives down those burdensome global grain stocks that keep crop prices low? Early signs indicate substantially reduced production but demand problems associated with African swine fever sweeping Asia and trade barriers also must be considered. In recent years there have been pockets of weather problems, but not large enough […] Read more
U.S. aid plan could influence planting decisions
The contrast between drought worries in Western Canada and rain-caused planting delays in the United States Midwest continued last week. A new topic also entered market discussion: the US$14.5 billion trade mitigation farm aid package and speculation how it would affect American farmers’ seeding plans. Normally, by the end of May, many U.S. farmers pack […] Read more
Rain this week could sink U.S. farmers’ seeding plans
The news on agricultural trade was miserable last week with the United States and China ending talks and instituting new tariffs but prices of major grains all bounced up a little from recent lows. The reason was equally miserable news about planting delays in the U.S. due to wet, cold weather in the Midwest. While […] Read more
