Crop Management
A U.S. wheat industry analyst is having difficulty explaining why durum prices are falling in an environment of steadily eroding production prospects. “It’s hard to rationalize why they’ve come back because really, fundamentally, nothing has changed,” said Jim Peterson, marketing director for the North Dakota Wheat Commission. American growers who were getting $15 per bushel […] Read more
Crop Management
Price drop for quality durum baffles analyst
Alberta canola growers face disease, frost threat
AIRDRIE, Alta. — A cool, damp spring and a wet summer have some farmers watching the weather and whispering the ‘f’word. Frost is on the minds of many and for canola growers in the Calgary region, it is a concern because the first freeze could come as soon as Sept. 11. Early frost can present […] Read more
High protein in new crops bite into spring wheat premiums
Spring wheat protein premiums have crashed in the wake of reports of high protein U.S. winter wheat and spring wheat crops. Canadian Wheat Board market analyst Neil Townsend said demand is also a factor. After years of dealing with poor quality wheat crops, millers have learned to adapt their flour recipes to use substitutes. “Longer […] Read more
Manitoba harvest season lacks golden glow
This September will be vastly different from previous Septembers for Rob Pettinger, who grows canola, wheat and other crops on 2,200 acres of land near Elgin, Man. This year, Pettinger won’t be spending hours inside a combine cab and he won’t spend sleepless nights worrying about the weather. He has only 150 acres of crop […] Read more
Crop prices linked to world issues
The markets are filled with traders throwing the R, D and C words at each other But as markets gyrate wildly depending on which word is most popular each day, the F word provides hope that the L word won’t apply this time. Here’s a list of those words and why they matter for crop […] Read more
Growers lack chemical control for wireworm
Wireworms are on the rise in Western Canada, years after a ban was imposed on the only insecticide effective against them. “The population appears to have been increasing annually. Every year I get more and more reports of wireworm problems happening,” said Bob Vernon, an Agriculture Canada research scientist from British Columbia. Vernon’s colleagues across […] Read more
Production risk supports grain prices during market turmoil
As Ed White notes in his column this week, continuing production risks have helped crop prices during the recent economic and stock market turmoil. It will be a couple months before all the North American crop is in the bin and it appears U.S. crops will be smaller than expected earlier this summer. Canada’s late […] Read more
Enforcing a crop contract can be difficult
A contract is supposed to be a contract, except, it seems, when it involves the sale of pulses or special crops. There have been no recent, high profile cases of a grain company collapse leaving farmers unpaid or at the mercy of bonding provisions enforced by the Canadian Grain Commission. But you certainly hear lots […] Read more
Will southern plains farmers plant wheat in parched soil?
Texas and Oklahoma are suffering the worst drought in decades. July was the hottest month ever recorded in Texas and the 12 months ending July 31 were the driest since record keeping began in 1895. The drought slashed the size of the winter wheat harvest earlier this year and is pushing cattle into feedlots because […] Read more
Short lines nervous about post CWB environment
Uncertainty surrounding the future of Western Canada’s rail and grain handling systems is causing nervousness in the industry, says a former University of Saskatchewan economist and spokesperson for a short-line rail company in southern Saskatchewan. Bill Martin, a board member with the GHR Inc. short-line rail group, said legislation that will eliminate single-desk grain marketing […] Read more
