Crop development is one to three weeks behind normal across the Prairies. A satellite map of vegetative growth for the June 3-9 period is mostly all brown or dark brown over the entire region, indicating delayed development. “Although it has improved over last week, there is still a large portion of the Prairies that is […] Read more
Author Archives
Nutrien targets independents, co-operatives
The world’s biggest crop input retailer is determined to get bigger at the expense of co-ops and independents. “We expect to invest $4 to $5 billion in our retail business over the next five years,” Mike Frank, chief executive officer of Nutrien, told investors at the company’s 2019 Investor Day, according to a webcast of […] Read more
Pork snag not part of spat: industry
Canada Pork International official says tougher inspections seen recently in China are unrelated to diplomatic dispute
Pork is not China’s next trade target, says an industry official. Reports surfaced last week that Canadian pork was suddenly facing increased inspection scrutiny in China. The news came from the office of federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau. In an email, she said she was recently made aware of increased inspection of pork products. “All […] Read more
Corn pest could increase exports to China
Fall armyworm spreads across the country and could cause extensive damage or persuade farmers to grow other crops
A devastating pest is invading the world’s second largest corn producer. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently issued a special update report from its office in Beijing that said fall armyworm has been discovered in China. The crop-eating pest was first detected in Yunnan province in January and has since rapidly spread across 15 provinces […] Read more
Feds make cash advance changes
The federal government was able to implement new cash advance rules faster than originally anticipated with help from the Canadian Canola Growers Association. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said during a May 24 conference call that it could take a couple of months to revise the regulations. That timeline didn’t sit well with canola farmers […] Read more
Australia forced to import wheat
Australia is so low on high protein wheat that it is importing product from the country it usually competes with in export markets. Australia’s Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has issued three permits for shipments of bulk wheat from Canada and there are more in the queue. “It’s an exceptional event,” said Bruce Burnett, […] Read more
Monsoons deliver below-normal rain to Indian farmers
Weather forecasters agree that India’s southwest monsoon will be substandard, which could hamper development of the country’s kharif pulse crops. The India Meteorological Department believes the 2019 monsoon will deliver 96 percent of the long-term average rainfall. The monsoon period runs between June and September. Rainfall is expected to be well distributed throughout the country, […] Read more
Producers warned about fertilizer quality
Urea and phosphate shipments that have been stuck on American barges stalled by flooding may be in bad shape
Farmers should be wary about the quality of some of the urea and phosphate hitting the market this summer, says an industry official. Fertilizer has been sitting on barges for months in the U.S. river system and subjected to torrential rains. “There’s going to be some pretty poor quality fertilizer that is going to come […] Read more
U.S. prevented planting program pulls corn
One factor that could ignite grain markets is coming closer to a reality, say analysts. The amount of “prevented planting” corn acres is on the rise in the United States. Prevented planting is a crop insurance program available to U.S. farmers who can’t plant their crops due to flooding, drought or other natural disasters. In […] Read more
Payment program not finalized
Western politicians and farm leaders were not happy to hear that changes to the Advance Payments Program could be months in the making. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau was asked during a recent conference call organized by the Canola Council of Canada when new regulations changing the APP limit to $1 million and the interest-free […] Read more
