The pain of Manitoba livestock producers poured out of the country and into the laps of provincial government ministers at last week’s Association of Manitoba Municipalities convention. “I think it is going to be a legacy of this government, the demise of the hog and cattle industries,” said cattle producer Tom Dickson of Pipestone during […] Read more
Ed White
Stories by Ed White
Wetlands need help surviving
A while ago, Roy Greer ran over a deer antler. It punctured a tire and caused an unplanned suspension of field operations on his farm. “It was a small tire, but it was $50 and three hours,” said Greer. He didn’t mind dealing with this situation, but it made him think about the cost for […] Read more
Turmoilto continue: analyst
Western Producer reporter Ed White is talking to the world’s top market analysts to bring a range of philosophies and insights into the current financial crisis. In this series, the analysts discuss what happened to predictions about the world being in a long-term bull market for commodities and whether the financial crisis changes the long-term […] Read more
Technical vs Fundamental
Tomorrow in Yorkton oat growers are going to be able to witness two radically different approaches to market analysis and price predictions. Two analysts are going to try to give farmers an idea of where oat prices are likely to go in the next year and while they might end up with the same conclusions, […] Read more
Have a nice convention
On Thursday the Prairie Oats Growers Association (POGA) is holding its annual convention and the market hasn’t been offering much to them recently to be happy about. All crops have fallen since the start of October, but the plunge has been particularly bad for oats. It’s futures prices at the Chicago Board of Trade has […] Read more
Tricky dicky markets
“The 70s were pretty quiet compared to this,” an American crop futures trader just told me. “These are the most volatile times I have ever seen.” That’s actually saying a lot, because the 1970s were a time of intense volatility, fondly remembered by farmers for their numerous crop price spikes. But what farmers often don’t […] Read more
If the buck goes boom
What happens to commodity prices if the American dollar collapses? It’s not such an idle question these days, with some gurus calling for a plunge in the U.S. dollar in response to the American government’s almost unbelievably large financial bailout spending recently. People such as Jim Rogers and Marc Faber have been calling for a […] Read more
Will hemp replace tobacco?
When Quebec tobacco farmers got smoked by globalization, they decided they wouldn’t just butt out of specialty crops. A number are trying to light up their futures with hemp, an ideal crop on sandy soil. “Hemp is quite a viable possibility to replace tobacco,” said Christian Boisjoly, a Quebec farmer and president of a local […] Read more
Prairie farmers delay spring seeding decisions
The profit prospects for 2009 wheat and canola are much worse now than they were for the same crops last spring. The market isn’t making it easy for farmers to decide which crop to give extra acreage to by making it obviously more profitable. “The prices went up together, and they’ve come down together,” said […] Read more
Oil, crop link likely to remain: analyst
When oil was king and its price was rising, farmers were happy to see crops playing queen. Now that oil has been dethroned and its price is falling, many farmers would like to see crop markets get a divorce. But that is unlikely, say market analysts. “As crude oil goes, so too goes the corn […] Read more
