Malting barley prices should remain strong, says a Canadian Wheat Board analyst, because the Canadian crop will be average, at best. “In Canada, right now, it’s very unlikely that we would have what you would consider (to be) a bumper crop,” said Neil Townsend, market analyst for the CWB, given that planted acres are expected […] Read more
Robert Arnason
Stories by Robert Arnason
Hog manure can triple livestock productivity
A study that suggests animal productivity triples when hog manure is applied to grazing land has stunned researchers at the University of Manitoba. “It wasn’t a surprise that the manure would increase productivity, but to see threefold increase in productivity was absolutely amazing to me,” said Don Flaten, a soil science professor at the U […] Read more
Farmers may delay hog bill
A growing contingent of frustrated farmers may force Manitoba’s politicians to work into the summer. As of June 2 more than 400 presenters had signed up to speak before a legislative committee on Bill 17, the moratorium on hog barn expansion in three regions of Manitoba. The house leader for the NDP government, justice minister […] Read more
Farmers dig in against hog bill
Manitoba’s farmers are lining up, literally, to take a stand against Bill 17, the government’s plan to make the hog moratorium permanent in three regions of the province. When Bill 17 goes to a legislative committee for public input beginning May 29, Manitoba’s hog farmers will be there, en masse, to protest what they’ve labelled […] Read more
Wind razes Red River crops
A windstorm in southern Manitoba has forced farmers to reseed their crops and prompted a massive excavation of drainage ditches in the Rural Municipality of Morris. Witnesses described the storm, which hit the area May 16-17, as a blizzard of topsoil, akin to the Dirty Thirties. Employees at the RM of Morris office said drivers […] Read more
Rising demand drives sunflower values higher
A combination of strong demand and processors trying to entice farmers to seed more acres is propelling sunflower prices into unknown territory. “The most I’ve ever paid for sunflowers is 35 cents per pound and we’re contracting at 36 today (May 22),” said Grant Fehr, manager of Keystone Grain Ltd. in Winkler, Man., the largest […] Read more
Better piglet price reduces cull
A sharp rise in weanling prices has quieted plans for a piglet cull in Manitoba. In early April, the threat of U.S. mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) had pushed prices down to $5 per weanling, based on reports from Manitoba farmers. At an April 3 meeting in Steinbach, Man., during the height of the price crisis, […] Read more
Exports fuel welcome hog respite
Six weeks ago the hog market was gloom, doom and more gloom. Most analysts predicted a difficult 2008, with no relief anticipated until 2009. But in the last month and a half, futures prices on the Chicago Board of Trade have increased to almost $78 per hundredweight from less than $60. Index 100 hogs on […] Read more
Oil prices play little role in loonie’s path
Like it or not, the loonie is a petro-dollar. Most currency analysts believe the price of oil largely determines the value of the Canadian dollar, a perception that provokes an obvious question: if oil has gained 25 percent since January, why hasn’t the Canadian dollar rocketed upward in 2008? “That’s a popular question these days,” […] Read more
Feed wheat contract pulled for study
ICE Futures Canada will pull trading of its December 2008 feed wheat futures while a committee looks at potential changes to the ailing futures contract. “If any recommendations come forward from this committee, it allows us to enact those recommendations sooner,” said Brad Vannan, president and chief operating officer of the Winnipeg exchange. Vannan said […] Read more
