Currency fluctuations are pushing down the price of crops prairie farmers grow. The euro and loonie have ganged up to beat down current and deferred prices since the Greek debt crisis began spilling out of Europe into the world’s stock and commodity markets. “It’s Greece,” Joe Victor of Allendale Inc. in McHenry, Illinois, said about […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
Important points on these charts
Look at these two charts: Those are a couple of markets going down pretty steadily. But each, in its own unique way, should be set for a turnaround if long-term trends prevail. Oats has pierced the psychologically-important $2 per bushel level, which means even dummies notice it’s happened. That can scare out anyone who can […] Read more
Quality as an offensive weapon
I was at two announcements Friday here in Winnipeg that both focused on using specialization and high quality as weapons for Canadians to use to bash a way into foreign markets. One was at the Canadian International Grains Institute, a fabulous agency here at Portage and Main that brings in buyers of Canadian grain from […] Read more
Mayo – briefly a big cheese on Wall Street
Yesterday while I sat around a Winnipeg hospital in a fancy hospital housecoat awaiting a scoping of my esophagus – a follow-up to The Steak Incident I blogged about here a couple of months ago – I was listening on my iPod to a string of Bloomberg podcasts from the past few days. Yes, I […] Read more
Markets rattle investors
After a wild, panicked and euphoric week in the world’s stock markets, farmers might wonder what it means for crop and livestock prices.It’s a question traders and market analysts grappled with as each day brought another explosive move in the world’s equity markets. Problems in Greece and the Mediterranean were exacerbated by technical problems in […] Read more
Stick with Nexera, says Dow
Farmers shouldn’t lose faith in Nexera canola because of problems with deliveries to the Louis Dreyfus Canada plant in Yorkton, Sask., says the specialty canola’s marketer.The omega 9 oil is selling into a lucrative and growing market, but has faced short-term turbulence.”I think there is a real opportunity for us to go after some large […] Read more
Accident takes life of hog producer
Larry Friesen’s death has shocked Manitoba hog farmers.”This is going to leave a hole in the hog industry,” said Manitoba Pork Council chair Karl Kynoch about Friesen’s April 28 death after he fell from a barn roof on his farm near Rivers.”He was very involved and people knew him all across the country.”The 58-year-old represented […] Read more
Grain marketing flexibility helps when plans go south
There are few things in farming as satisfying and comforting as a signed contract with a major grain company that locks in a premium for a specialized product. How could you hedge your crop better than that?Perhaps that’s why farmers have been so outraged at the failure of Louis Dreyfus Canada to accept delivery of […] Read more
China no longer a sure thing for Canadian canola
If the Chinese government was hoping to cap Canadian canola exports to China, it appears to have succeeded. Canadian canola exports to the nation are running at a rate far beneath the levels of last spring and early this crop year and have levelled out with little ability to increase. China banned Canadian canola at […] Read more
Manitoba takes lead on humane cages
Embracing more humane cages hasn’t made Manitoba Egg Farmers popular with egg producers in Canada.”We took a bold move and went forward,” said Manitoba Egg Farmers chair Harold Froese to the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association April 28.”Now we are being considered even more than we were before (to be) leaders in the animal […] Read more
