Wheat headed lower as international markets appeared to be more robust than many analysts had thought. Even hard red spring types were under pressure as American exports ran into heavy competition from the European Union and Russia. It was largely suspected that Russian supplies were heavily depleted as local prices were on the rise, however […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
Canola drops along with grain markets
Grain markets were lower today, with canola finishing $2.40 per tonne down on the March ICE contract, closing at $473.40. The rest of the 2019 canola contracts were off between $2 and $2.80 with January 2020 down 70 cents, hanging in a $498.30. It was canola chasing soy down, as the markets looked for positive […] Read more
How to get the most out of a farmland sale
Selling farmland has changed along with the price. While demand is obviously higher, so are the opportunities to improve the sale price and shorten the period that land is on the market. In many cases, the value of grain land on the Canadian Prairies doubled in the five years after 2010 and has seen solid […] Read more
WASDE report has no surprises
WASDE is back, but it didn’t shake the market, indicating that other commodity intelligence was at work in the one-month layoff of American data. The U.S. government’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, often disputed by traders and analysts, are none-the-less a guide to where domestic and international inventories and purchases are taking place. The […] Read more
Chloride applications possibly help canaryseed
Canaryseed yields depend on the season, and to a lesser degree on what producers put into the soil along with it. On-going research about chloride applications ahead of canaryseed is showing that if the soil is truly deficient, there is a good chance of a response to smaller amounts of the element, usually delivered as […] Read more
Canaryseed prices likely to stay on low side
Analyst also doesn’t expect a big change in prairie acreage, although a lack of data can make predictions tricky
Canaryseed acres are remaining similar to previous years, including the big production season of 2013, when the weather favoured the crop. However, yields since 2013 haven’t been as abundant, and supplies can tend to be tricky to read because of a lack of hard data about the production side of the crop. Chuck Penner, the […] Read more
At this Deere facility, you can navigate in virtual Gators — while dodging real ones
ORLANDO, Fla. — Alligators warm themselves in the sub-tropical sun one hundred metres away as an iPad tablet computer is raised over a toy Deere 850 air seeder cart. A virtual, three-dimensional version of the seeder and drill begin to move on the handheld screen as it is rotated around the toy. However, not every […] Read more
A producer speaks out on populism
“I don’t really want (my legislators) to be me, or the same as me. I want them to be better.” That was a comment I was awarded after hosting a talk with a politician during Crop Week in Saskatoon. I had plunked myself down at a table in the audience for a quick cup of […] Read more
Mustard price not expected to go through the roof
Saskatchewan still holds the mustard exporter title, but other producers, largely from Eastern Europe, are stepping into the business. Asia is the largest user of the crop, but Canada’s business is feeding the American market, Chuck Penner from Left Field Commodity Research, told producers attending the Saskatchewan Mustard Development Commission’s annual meeting in Saskatoon during […] Read more
Energy, farm sectors must work together
I had the opportunity to sit and have a talk with former Saskatchewan premier Brad Wall on a stage in Saskatoon during Crop Week, and from the size of the crowd, I was assured producers were interested in his opinions. I mostly kept mine to myself, saving them up for this space and for yelling […] Read more
