No one’s thrilled about pork prices right now. But there are a few cheerier features of the markets today that producers should be grateful for. 1) Prices have not fallen off a cliff, as they are wont to do in the fourth quarter of the year; 2) The Russians are facing problems with Afrrican Swine […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
Wagging, waving, wondering
Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz recently said that he warned the Chinese ambassador to Canada that playing games with Canadian canola imports wasn’t very fair – or very bright. This brought to my mind the image of a big Canadian moustache flapping, a finger wagging and a Chinese ambassador looking unperturbed. Letting the Chinese know, […] Read more
The Loon that keeps on giving
The Loonie is the gift that keeps on giving (this week). It’s been so kind to farmers since Monday. Just look at how the canola charts look: It’s a nice little recovery on the charts for canola, which didn’t really fall that much on the news of the letter from China to the CFIA demanding […] Read more
Countdown to immunity
One of the odd things about being a journalist is that you sometimes cover issues that directly affect you. So on the one hand you have to try to carefully and objectively assess the news value and credibility of the information and sources you’re considering, deciding whether something is even worth doing a story about, […] Read more
Wet crop, China threat hurt canola
Canola growers face one of the worst marketing situations possible: they have a lot of unpriced crop because of harvest problems, while the market has dropped almost 50 cents per bushel and could drop further. Should growers lock in prices now? Farmers across the Prairies are struggling with that question. “There’s way more unpriced crop […] Read more
Potatoes do well in recession
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. – Quality potatoes don’t have a lot of eyes, but potato producers are happy to be sitting in the eye of the economic storm. “It’s a stable industry. That’s one thing we have going for us,” said Dan Sawatzky, president of the Keystone Vegetable Producers Association. “I think the industry’s in […] Read more
Pork sector anxious as flu season arrives
Vaccine clinics are operating across Canada, millions of Americans have already been vaccinated and people around the northern hemisphere are bracing for the oncoming influenza season. That leaves the Canadian hog industry anxiously watching consumers in North America and overseas for signs that they will again mistakenly avoid pork in the assumption that it could […] Read more
Canadian hog producers suffer from slow cull in U.S.
Canadian farmers have shed sows swiftly this year because of the pig price catastrophe. But Americans, already slow to cull, appear to be hunkering down for a war of attrition. “The liquidation is progressing slowly in the U.S.,” said Iowa State University hog analyst John Lawrence. “Weaker corn prices in August and stronger weaned pig […] Read more
Increase yields to feed hungry
The global population is soaring and world food production will need to increase by 70 percent by 2050 just to keep up. That may sound like a daunting goal, but the head of policy for the United Nations’ World Food Program said farmers in Canada and in the developing world are up for the challenge. […] Read more
Improving crop goal of new fund
Jim Cornelius was beaming last week as the federal government announced a new $62 million fund to boost the production of farmers in poor countries. Helping small farmers produce yields closer to Canadian levels is what prairie farmers want the government to do to match their commitment to helping alleviate hunger overseas, the executive director […] Read more
