Roberta Rampton

The Winnipeg Commodity Exchange has decided to change its canola, flax, feed wheat and oats contracts to allow more market participants to make or take physical delivery of grain. Exchange members who own delivery facilities will be able to issue warrants for farmers and other market players, said exchange spokesperson Sandra Craven. For example, a […] Read more

The forecast called for thunder showers for the May long weekend. But some farmers around Steinbach, Man., still have long faces after a spring storm dumped some hail and up to 20 centimetres of water on their newly seeded crops. Overland flooding that turned fields into rivers and plowed huge gullies through topsoil is making […] Read more

The political and economic unrest in Indonesia has not affected wheat trade yet, according to Canada’s largest trading partner with the country. Indonesia was the fourth largest customer for wheat from the Canadian Wheat Board in 1996-97, buying close to 1.5 million tonnes. Last week, president Suharto stepped down after 31 years of rule in […] Read more

Hog producers are getting a pleasant summer surprise in the form of higher than anticipated prices. Prices usually perk up at the beginning of May. In Canada they closely track United States prices and in spring, U.S. producers have fewer pigs in their barns ready to go to market. But stronger than expected demand and […] Read more

Until two years ago, Manitoba hog farmers used to rely on the monopoly clout of their marketing agency to get them the best deal for their livestock. Deregulation has changed all that. Farmers now decide who they sell their hogs to, and negotiate their own price. To make the decisions easier and hopefully more profitable, […] Read more

The special crops trade is far from immune to the maelstrom of the weather markets sweeping through the industry. Add a dash of uncertainty about how the Asian currency crunch and economic sanctions against India will affect demand, and price outlooks become even more clouded. Here is what some observers expect may happen in some […] Read more

Canaryseed prices, like those of lentils and mustard, are being rocked by weather scares in Western Canada. But the pea market is flat and holding stable. Here’s why. Canaryseed Growers have about 100,000 tonnes of canaryseed socked away in bins, from as far back as 1995, said John Duvenaud of the Wild Oats newsletter. In […] Read more

A former chief grain inspector, a retired grain company executive and a farmer have come up with 19 ways the industry can keep deer excrement in feed barley from soiling Canada’s export reputation. It is now up to the industry whether to follow the recommendations or flush them away. After two months of interviews and […] Read more

Forget about Team Canada or the Manitoba Pork Advantage. Meet Team Inky Mark, one man on a trade mission to get a hog processing plant in Dauphin, Man. Mark used to be mayor of the town of 8,300, and is now the Reform MP for Dauphin-Swan River, the northwest region of Manitoba’s farm belt. In […] Read more

There’s a bid for 240 tonnes of barley at the spot price of $99 per tonne, f.o.b. Grande Prairie, Alta. Another buyer wants 500 tonnes delivered to Calgary during September or October at $124 per tonne. A third buyer offers to pay $24 under the October barley futures for 200 tonnes, f.o.b. Red Deer, Alta. […] Read more