Here in the city of Harvey Milk, it doesn’t seem strange that the topic of today’s panel discussion was milk and the reason canola meal is so good at making it. But farmers and others at the Canola Council of Canada convention in San Francisco, the dairy industry that was revealed is much different from […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
An interesting challenge: calling whether it’s the best or worst of times
Canadian Canola Council chair Richard Wansbutter had a tough job this morning, but it should have been an easy job. Usually the opening address of any convention is a bit of yawner, with few bland comments and a rather obvious summation of where the industry’s at. But that’s hard to do with canola this year. […] Read more
Just-in-time agronomy delivery
Denise Maurice, the Canola Council of Canada’s crop production vice president remembers a farmer calling her up in a panic. He had found a new weed and it was spreading. So he ran to the photocopier, put the weed on the glass, photocopied it, faxed it to Maurice, and she ran to weed picture books […] Read more
Message from the takeout window
Canola’s always prided itself on being a gamechanger in the edible oils marketplace. That’s why it really wasn’t so strange having Arkadi Kuhlmann, the founder and CEO of ING Direct bank, as its lead-off speaker. A lot of Canadians don’t realize it, but ING Direct got its start in Canada as an attempt to create […] Read more
Yield assumptions could distort market: analysts
Assumptions in Agriculture Canada’s recent supply and demand report have some worried. Analyst Greg Kostal thinks Agriculture Canada’s canola production expectation could be too low because it doesn’t integrate a rising yield trend coming from new varieties. And oat analyst Randy Strychar thinks the oat yield expectations are too high. Neither analyst criticized the department, […] Read more
Oat prices dip as demand slumps, supply grows
Farmers could be in for a surprise if they plant extra oat acres this spring with expectations of good returns. Randy Strychar, analyst with OatInsight, says oats are falling on the crop-to-crop comparison rankings. “If they grow 10 percent more acres, or if Ag Canada is right and they grow 17 percent more, look out […] Read more
High loonie hurts exports
Greek financial incompetence, a weaker euro and the strong Canadian dollar add up to worse prospects for durum and malting barley sales to Europe, analysts say. The currency issues also allow Scandinavian oats to flow into the U.S. southeast, while there’s a large crop sitting on the Canadian Prairies looking for buyers. “With a declining […] Read more
CWB basis contract might be price option
Farmers planning to use the Canadian Wheat Board’s Basis Price Contract for hard red spring wheat should look at it now, says Charlie Pearson of Alberta Agriculture. The premium to the underlying futures contract price is better than it has been for a number of years. “Basis levels are stronger than they have been, and […] Read more
Seeding to start dry but late spring showers are in the forecast
Western prairie farmers will probably seed into dry soil this spring and pray for rain, weather experts say about the long range weather outlook. However, they agree that timely rain and generally good growing conditions will dominate most of the Prairies during the summer and harvest season. The exception will be the Peace River region, […] Read more
Flax trades like a special crop
Quietly and awkwardly, flax has walked away from bulk commodity markets, something that would have surprised an earlier generation of farmers. “You’ll notice that flax has now become a special crop (in our analysis reports) and that’s because of popular demand from our subscribers,” Informa Economics’ Chuck Penner said at a recent presentation. It’s not […] Read more
