Russia’s influence in international wheat trade has not been damaged so far by its war on Ukraine, as its exports in 2023-24 are expected to reach a record high. Wheat farmers there enjoyed mostly good growing weather this season and while production might not reach the almost unbelievable heights of last year’s crop, the latest […] Read more
D'Arce McMillan
Stories by D'Arce McMillan
Oil prices expected to be higher in second half of the year
Most analysts expect stronger crude oil prices in the second half of this year but have mostly abandoned ideas that crude could reach US$100 per barrel by year end. Currently, crude prices are bouncing around, but North American diesel prices in recent weeks have risen sharply because of problems at American refineries. Global oil demand […] Read more
Western Producer marks 100 years
The newspaper looks back at a century of providing prairie farmers a voice in the Canadian agriculture industry and serving as an educational platform for the entire family
It was an emergency. The founders of this newspaper were deeply involved in a debate that roiled the farm population in summer 1923: should a co-operative pool be formed to market farmers’ wheat? Saskatchewan Co-operative Wheat Producers Ltd., what became Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, had until the end of Sept. 12 to persuade farmers with 50 […] Read more
Return of El Nino and a warmer ocean bring uncertainty
Weather extremes in recent months have so far had limited impact on global crop production but the prospects for the coming year are uncertain as the world faces the return of El Nino, coupled with exceptionally warm ocean temperatures. El Nino and La Nina are the two ends of the Pacific Ocean oscillation and we […] Read more
Storms hit China’s crops but too early to calculate damage
A typhoon and tropical storm have dumped enormous amounts of rain on northeastern China, creating damage that recalls crop-wrecking storms in 2020 that helped force the country to increase corn imports. China is assessing the damage caused in late July by Typhoon Doksuri and the heavy rain and flooding that followed. Another typhoon, called Khanun, […] Read more
Gov’t policy must include plant-based plastic substitutes
The story of how federal regulations are hurting a Calgary-maker of recyclable grocery bags made from bioplastic is an example of how transformations are complex. It seems that at every turn, the effort to shift away from petroleum fuel and products creates opportunities but also harm. These play out across the economy, and because I […] Read more
Mostly moderate temperatures lessen impact of dryness
In a summer when all the headlines have been about heat waves around the world, it is a blessing that the main grain and oilseed producing areas of North America have mostly avoided extreme heat. The news items about the record number of days that Phoenix, Arizona, had highs above 43 C and the vicious […] Read more
Russia, India add to world’s growing food security crisis
It was a bad week for the world’s poorest people as Russia’s attacks against Ukraine’s grain export capabilities drove up wheat prices and India halted exports of some types of rice because of worries about an uneven monsoon. These events threaten to worsen food cost inflation, which is a global problem. India’s export halt was […] Read more
Weather problems start to trim global crop expectations
Record American soybean and corn crops are still in the official forecast but too much of the North American plains remains dry or in drought to allow crop markets to relax. A large part of the Canadian Prairies is in drought, threatening canola, durum, spring wheat and other crops. In the United States, July has […] Read more
Yeast-grown vegetable oil tackles palm oil’s green problem
Lab-grown food has many hurdles to overcome and the greatest of them might be getting consumer acceptance. People might pack their shopping carts with all sorts of processed foods loaded up with sugar, fat and hard-to-pronounce ingredients, but lab-grown food is a step too far for many. But what about a lab-grown ingredient that replaces […] Read more
