Budget cuts at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have also affected The Western Producer. In the last six months, the department has cancelled two price-monitoring services.
First to go was Agriculture Canada’s pulse crop report. Sharp-eyed readers will note that all but lentil prices have been unavailable since fall.
That will be changing. We’ll be getting pulse and special crops prices from STAT Publishing of Vancouver, B.C. and publishing them weekly.
Just before Christmas, we got word that Ag Canada would cease monitoring weekly livestock auctions, a service it had provided since 1919.
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Storm dynamics and extreme rainfall
Besides moisture, instability and orographic lift, the next biggest factor that contributes to heavy or extreme rainfall is storm dynamics.
Feeder cattle and slaughter cow prices are being sourced temporarily from Canfax, the marketing arm of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. Canfax already grants us permission to quote its slaughter cattle prices.
In the bigger picture, some elements of the Markets section have been moved to accommodate the sale of advertising space. My column, Market Watch, will have a new permanent home on the front page of the section. Contract calls from the Canadian Wheat Board will move inside. Market Notes, our quick read on international markets and weather news, will move to an extra fourth page.
We’ve been re-jigging the Production section too. Remember the plea for farm inventors to share their ideas? This week, on page 48, we’ve launched a new monthly feature called Farm Improvement which will be devoted to innovations that make life easier on the farm and ranch . (Personally, I’d nominate the New Zealander who invented gate latches for barbed-wire fences for a Nobel prize.)
And last, Ryan Taylor’s “Cowboy Logic” column, which takes a wry look at how he’s coping while taking over the family’s North Dakota ranch, debuted last week. Comments about any of these changes? Give me a call at 306-665-3519. I’d be happy to visit with you.
