The Buhler name can be found atop buildings across Winnipeg and Winkler, Man., as farm machinery financier John Buhler spends the latter part of his career and retirement supporting worthy causes. The Buhler name has also long adorned factory buildings in Manitoba and North Dakota. However, it will soon disappear from the farm equipment that […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
Speculators stabilize most crop prices
Crop futures markets have gone flat in recent weeks, but analysts say that’s better than it could be. Futures markets are being propped up by a lack of surprising news, which destabilize markets, and a steady stream of money invested in commodities. “The constant demand from the more speculative crowd is underpinning that market more […] Read more
China market uncertain
The canola industry is still waiting for the Chinese market to open to Canadian seed, but some players are becoming hopeful. “The crush margins are just too good there (in China) so I think they’re going to allow them,” said Don Roberts of CanolaInsight.com. Chinese restrictions on imports of seed testing positive for blackleg have […] Read more
Processors keen on purchasing GM oats
It was an answer few farmers seemed to expect when food processors at the Prairie Oat Growers Association convention were asked what they thought of genetic modification for oats. But Bruce Roskens of oats processing superpower Quaker Oats stunned many with his forthright answer. “Real simple: Bring it on,” said Roskens. “From a millers standpoint, […] Read more
Oil and water and nudz
After listening to the first 45 minutes of a 2010 energy and grains outlook webinar yesterday, I felt a little like I did the other day after my two year old daughter ran up to me and jumped onto my midsection, causing me to exclaim in pain and explain to my wife why I was […] Read more
The shape of crop markets to come
In about eight minutes time, I’m going to be listening in on a grains and oilseeds outlook for 2010 given by a U.S. market analysis firm. And I’ll be doing another one Thursday. And another one probably every other day for a while. It’s that time of year when everyone looks back at 2009 and […] Read more
Dollar contrarians
Friday morning was delightful for me, because as I woke up, ingested coffee and digested the outlook for the coming day in the markets, I managed to catch two of my favourite market gurus giving their archly contrarian takes on the U.S. dollar. Everyone’s bearish the U.S. dollar these days, for a truckload of reasons: […] Read more
Extend and pretend
A smart analyst I was talking with yesterday told me that he’s lived through two severe recessions while involved with agriculture, and each time farming seemed immune to the problems in the wider economy. Obviously that doesn’t mean the ag economy is a better place to be in general than in the main economy – […] Read more
Weather info helps make farm decisions
Farmers can now plug nearby weather conditions into a calculator to determine the local risk for insects and crop diseases. WeatherFarm should come in handy for farmers trying to remove the guesswork when deciding whether to spray, Keystone Agricultural Producers president Ian Wishart said about the free, internet-based program. “It’s a pretty neat tool.” The […] Read more
Mixed family hog farms may see rebirth
Just a decade ago, the sun seemed to be setting on family hog farms and rising on large networks of investor and corporate owned hog barns. However, with Big Sky Farms entering bankruptcy protection, mixed family farms no longer seem so outdated. And if profitability returns to prairie hog production, mixed family farms may inherit […] Read more
