Loonie predicted to fall to 87 cents US | Interest rates critical to farmers with large debt loads
BRANDON — The bottom won’t drop out of the agricultural markets in the next few years if Royal Bank of Canada economists are right. “Our general view is that crop prices should remain historically high … higher than what were prevailing, say, in the 1990s or in the early part of the (2000s),” said RBC […] Read moreNews
Falling dollar good for exports
Global economy on the mend
U.S. is global engine | Japan, Asia Pacific adding to the momentum
Glen Hodgson was pumped to deliver the keynote presentation at CropSphere 2014. “I have a good news story to tell about the global economy for the first time in probably five years,” said the chief economist of the Conference Board of Canada. The world economy has been languishing since the financial crisis of 2007-08, when […] Read moreHarmony Beef owner eager to get plant door open
$18 million in renovations | Alberta cattle producers hope the former Rancher’s Beef facility will be open this summer
LETHBRIDGE — Rich Vesta was impressed with the overall design and concept of the Rancher’s Beef plant when he visited it for the first time. The plant in Balzac, Alta., had been closed since 2005, but peering through the dust and cobwebs, he could see the potential of what had been a dream of western […] Read moreIndian gov’t to consider lifting pulse export ban to boost prices
India is considering lifting an eight-year ban on pulse exports just as farmers harvest what is expected to be a record crop. Business Standard is reporting that the agriculture ministry will soon recommend that cabinet lift the ban to stop the decline in domestic pulse crop prices. “Those (recommendations) often get adopted, although once in […] Read more
Flax growers to pay for GM test
Canadian flax growers will soon bear the full cost of testing their flax crop for the presence of genetically modified material. Funding for the Flax Farm Stewardship program will end Feb. 28, says the Flax Council of Canada. After that, the full cost of testing will be borne by farmers. Will Hill, president of the […] Read more
Sask. growers keen on soybeans despite little research
Garry Hnatowich’s first piece of advice to Saskatchewan soybean growers is to take it slow, but he knows he will be ignored. Saskatchewan farmers do not dabble. Instead, they tend to do things in a big way. With soybeans, acres have gone from almost nothing in 2011 to an estimated 200,000 acres last year. “At […] Read more
Farm group tackles transfer of livestock ownership issue
Alberta Federation of Agriculture to look at how ownership contracts can be improved
BANFF, Alta. — The Alberta Federation of Agriculture will be taking a closer look at contracts for livestock sales in Alberta. The issue of ownership, and when precisely it’s transferred, was raised Jan. 21 at the organization’s annual general meeting. “We sent down some slaughter heifers. They were delivered to a slaughter facility on Sunday […] Read moreLimit soil transfer on equipment to minimize risk of clubroot
BRANDON — Making farm equipment 99.9 percent free of clubroot risk is more than almost any farmer is willing to do, says an Edmonton area canola agronomist. However, farmers shouldn’t think that it isn’t worth getting equipment 95 percent free. “I truly believe that the movement of soil is much, much more than we ever […] Read more
Deadly virus could cost hog industry millions
Ontario Pork producers are bracing themselves after two positive cases and a possible third case of PED were discovered in Ontario farms over the past week. If the virus were to spread across Canada, within one year it would cause an estimated $45 million in damage to the Canadian hog industry, said Amy Cronin, a […] Read more
Problems loom from improper agronomy
Crop diseases, pests | Herbicide resistance is also a threat of poor agronomic practices
ST. JEAN BAPTISTE, Man. — Dangerous cropland problems are coming home to roost after years of prairie farmers pushing rotations and overusing key tools, agronomy experts said during St. Jean Farm Days. Clubroot, blackleg, multiple herbicide resistant weeds and chemical resistant insects are all nibbling at the edges of Manitoba’s cropland productivity, threatening to become […] Read more
