Will farmers crush the red lentil market with a massive acreage this year? That’s a question Informa Economics’ special crops analyst Chuck Penner is asking. “Canadian lentil acreage will grow – by a lot,” said Penner in a presentation during the Canadian Wheat Board’s Grain World conference. That’s easy to understand because of current prices, […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
Long-term problems jeopardize recent rally in North American cattle prices
Today’s rising cattle prices should continue to climb for the next few months, says the director of the Livestock Marketing Information Centre in Denver. However, James Robb said short- and longer-term negative trends for the cattle and beef markets persist, which means the industry will have to continue to shrink over the long term if […] Read more
Embracing the bottom
Are you embracing this big bottom that’s before us now? Are you mad we haven’t bounced up off it? Or are you too dark-minded to see it as a bottom? Across the crop markets, prices have stopped falling – for some time now – and a couple have been edging up. Let me show you […] Read more
The beef of the matter
As I walked out of the GrainWorld conference after the cattle market outlook last Tuesday, I pondered a problem that is stuck in the throat of the industry: beef’s declining popularity. A range of factors, from high prices of beef compared to chicken and pork to beef’s reputation as an unhealthy “red meat” is making […] Read more
Be wary of buying land
Low interest rates mean farmers can afford to borrow a lot of money to buy land. But they could find that land investment is hard to carry if interest rates rise, a top American agricultural economist told the Manitoba Special Crops Symposium. “Don’t get caught in the cheap money trap,” said Virginia Tech’s David Kohl. […] Read more
Dust is real hog barn threat
The smell in hog barns is strong enough to mask a danger in the air – high levels of dust. Most farmers understand there’s a risk, but some don’t wear or don’t make their employees wear face masks while in the barn. That’s something farm safety associations and hog producer associations have been trying to […] Read more
Slow growth forecast
After hearing that the world had survived its greatest financial crisis in 70 years and was going to keep buying food, Corning, Sask., farmer Ken Hunter breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s optimistic. Things look better. I hope he’s right,” said Hunter, who was part of a group of farmers from the Weyburn area attending […] Read more
Rising wheat stocks blamed for bad news on prices
Get ready for more of the same wheat and durum prices. That’s the bottom line from the Canadian Wheat Board in its first Pool Return Outlook for the 2010-11 crop year, which is projecting prices a few cents per bushel below current 2009-10 PRO prices. “We’re looking at a year where we’ve come out of […] Read more
Farmers advised to brace for fertilizer price hike
Farmers betting that fertilizer prices will drop as they head into spring seeding are making a bet with bad odds, said a leading American fertilizer analyst. Dealers do not have big stockpiles and normal seeding and application rates will see some supplies drop sharply. “I would be surprised if there was not some price increase […] Read more
Another bubble, anyone?
Anyone groggy after last night’s entertainment of comedy and multiple refreshments got a jarring wakeup at this morning’s GrainWorld breakfast session: Most commodity prices are in bubble territory. That message was delivered by Peter Hall, the chief economist of Export Development Canada – a man who actually spotted the bubble in 2008 July and appeared […] Read more
