Nutrien expects prices to begin increasing this fall after last year’s bad weather helped create a product glut for retailers
Nitrogen fertilizer prices have reached a low point and will be heading up this fall, says one of the leading manufacturers and retailers of the crop input. “We believe the bottom is in,” Nutrien chief executive officer Chuck Magro said in a recent presentation at a conference hosted by Bernstein. “We now believe that there […] Read moreMarkets — page 331
CN prepares for busy end to crop year
Canada’s largest railway company says it expects western Canadian grain to continue to move at a brisk pace in June and July after spring seeding operations have wrapped up. Canadian National Railway’s Sean Finn, executive vice-president of corporate services, says a combination of factors led to greater-than-expected grain volumes on CN’s Canadian freight network in […] Read more
Border success cannot be allowed to breed failure
The Canada-United States border is a quiet success story hidden behind all the awfulness that has come out of COVID-19. Despite the worst pandemic in a century and despite a U.S. president that is given to playing hardball with foreign neighbours, trade has kept flowing across the Canada-U.S. border, helping keep us all fed, many […] Read more
Canfax report
This cattle market information is selected from the weekly report from Canfax, a division of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. More market information, analysis and statistics are available by becoming a Canfax subscriber by calling 403-275-5110 or at www.canfax.ca. Fed prices strengthen Alberta direct cattle sales saw active trade early last week, and average prices firmed […] Read more
WP livestock report
Hogs The U.S. national live price average for barrows and gilts was $26.23 June 5, down from $28.54 May 29. U.S. hogs averaged $32.14 on a carcass basis June 5, down from $36.92 May 29. The U.S. pork cutout was $72.78 per cwt. June 5, down from $88.20 May 29. The estimated U.S. weekly slaughter […] Read more
B.C. offers more funds for ag and food e-commerce
The vital part of the Buy B.C. campaign in British Columbia is the ability of sellers to reach consumers and e-commerce is one way to do that. The provincial government on June 5 put more money into a program to help farmers and food companies establish e-commerce and facilitate sales of B.C. products. Demand upon […] Read more
Let’s be hopeful, but not stupid, as COVID-19 wanes
There was shocking economic news today: U.S. non-farm payroll numbers increased by 2.5 million, rather than declining by expectations for more than seven million. Got that? The U.S. added jobs in May rather than continuing to fall into a hole dug by COVID-19. Is that number real? Is it a statistical aberration? Is it a […] Read more
Kazakhstan’s rise hits Canadian flax
Canada sold 67,000 tonnes to China in first two-thirds of 2019-20 compared to 268,000 tonnes in all of previous year
Kazakhstan continues to usurp Canada’s flax markets, say analysts. APK-Inform estimates that the country’s seeded area will reach 3.33 million acres this year, up 13 percent from the year before. Production is forecast to exceed one million tonnes, a 22 percent increase. By contrast, Statistics Canada is forecasting flat plantings in Canada, at about 941,000 […] Read more
Ukrainian barley crop poised for sharp drop
The pace of spring seeding is much lower than last year — 2.64 million acres as of the end of April instead of 3.66 million
The world’s largest barley exporter is going to have a lot less crop to ship this year, according to a new production estimate. Irina Ozip, an analyst with APK-Inform, a Ukrainian agricultural consultancy, is forecasting 6.83 million tonnes of Ukrainian barley production, a 23 percent drop from 2019-20. That is due primarily to a 16 […] Read more
Analysts urged to mine more data for more accuracy
Ag economist says his colleagues should take the time to analyze futures curves, option spreads and cash market basis
Agricultural economists are ignoring much of the rich data readily available in crop markets, says one analyst. They should delve deeper into the prices and spreads between prices to better understand and analyze crop markets. “Hopefully this paper will inspire agricultural economists to expand their way of thinking and their toolkit when analyzing commodity prices […] Read more
