A jumble of factors are hurting crop markets: currency gyrations and surges and slumps in the price of oil, gold and other commodities. As a result, it can be difficult to disentangle the impact of Statistics Canada’s discovery of much bigger-than-expected prairie wheat and canola crops and a smaller-than-expected oat crop. The final crop production […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
Substitutes steal pony oats market
BRANDON – Competitors have stolen the premium U.S. horse feed market from Canadian oats, but the crop’s leading analyst says Canadian farmers can grab it back. But they can’t wait to produce the research that will give them the slam-dunk edge he’s sure they will eventually have. They must act now. “I’m worried about what […] Read more
Betting on grain shipments
Railway efficiency analyst Mark Hemmes and Transport Institute head Barry Prentice made a bet eight years ago. Prentice said 80 percent of prairie grain would be moving in containers by 2021 while Hemmes said no more than 20 percent would move by container. “There are beers on the line that will be paid in about […] Read more
Marketing damaged grain
BRANDON – Farmers across eastern Saskatchewan are stuck with large, wet piles of bad-looking grain. Those with wet barley may have to sell it to feedlots for $1 per bushel , but oat growers may fare better. “There are homes and destinations for some of this stuff,” Viterra’s Chad Molesky told farmers at the Prairie […] Read more
What really happened? And who’s to blame?
Pop quiz: how are Tiger Woods and Canadian flax the same? Yes, you got it: They both have huge image problems and buyers have fled. We all know about Tiger’s troubles. It’d be hard not to know about them, considering it’s being talked about on the American media 23.5/7 and leaping out at us from […] Read more
Collegial disagreements
Ever want to spend a day engaged in discussions of “empty order fulfillment,” rail car unload targets and other arcane measures of grain transportation performance? If so, you should attend the Fields on Wheels conference that is held every year in Winnipeg. It’s a one-day event that brings together railway managers, grain company officials, grain […] Read more
Stats Can doesn’t crash market
Yesterday’s Statistics Canada production report contained a lot of startling numbers, with lots more spring wheat and canola for the market to digest and lots less oats. But the market shrugged it off, the charts seem to suggest. That’s a good thing, because the big numbers for wheat and canola could undermine the strength of […] Read more
Velvet gloves in China, trade expert urges
The Canadian canola industry is being cautioned not to overreact in its response to China’s blackleg import restrictions. Hitting back or protesting too violently would only complicate the situation, says the Canada China Business Council (CCBC). “Our significant experience with China is that playing hardball with China doesn’t work,” said CCBC director of public affairs […] Read more
Oats could rally in 2010
Normally, the weakest oat price of the marketing year is hit around the start of December. But that won’t be the case this year because Chicago oats futures have rallied strongly this fall, up more than 60 cents US per bushel from the September low. That leaves growers with a murky winter marketing season, market […] Read more
Barley contract languishes
Open interest in the Winnipeg feed barley contract is about as easy to find as smiles on the faces of Saskatchewan Roughrider fans this week. And the moribund nature of the contract has once more raised fears that another crop market will slip into the shadows of private, unreported trade. “It’s been disappointing,” said Union […] Read more
