Manitoba Ag Days is a big deal, and I’m there, so I’m going to file nuggets from the event as it goes on and put them here. I’ll keep updating this post as the event progresses.
WILL YOU OR WON’T YOU USE CWB 2.0?
I have been walking around Ag Days asking farmers if they will or won’t use CWB 2.0 to market their grain. Lots and lots of talk about this. Much is unknown. Very similar comments I’m getting from guys. Here’s an assortment:
“It depends what they’re offering.”
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“I’d like to, but I don’t know the details.”
“open market, all the way.”
“I don’t know.”
So that tells me that it’s still very much up in the air. I wasn’t sure what guys would tell me. I didn’t know if farmers would have made up their minds and made firm decisions. But it seems farmers are willing to give the new CWB a go, will check out competing offers, and decide what they’re most comfortable with. I found it interesting how many people want to use the new CWB – if it gives them a competitive price. Tomorrow a.m. I’m going to be at the CWB breakfast to hear Gord Flaten’s sales pitch for the Board’s marketing suite of programs. Will be interesting to hear what he and farmers say.
WEATHERMAN LERNER
Is weather going to get normal in 2012? NO!!!! Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc says we are heading into a period of colder winters from 2011-25. “There will be warm years, but not like that of the past 20-30 years.”
Also says a risk of dry summer if La Nina persists. Says there is almost no chance that the system that produced last spring’s saturation problems will recur.
JUBINVILLE OUTLOOK
Analyst Mike Jubinville restating his outlook for a weaker-priced 2012 compared to 2011. We have a story inthe Jan. 12 paper and on the website from his presentation at St Jean Farm Days.
Says likely canola range of $10-$12/bu.
CANOLA, AND DENISE MAURICE
A lot of us who hover on the edges of ag and many of you farmers knew the Canola Council of Canada’s crop production vice president Denise Maurice. She died unexpectedly in November and a lot of people are still stunned by it. The CCC’s Derwyn Hammond paid tribute to her during a discussion of work she pioneered, and his voice quavered as he talked briefly about her, and that’s about the best summary of how people still feel who knew her. Still upsetting to think about.
HOW ABUSED CANOLA TURNS OUT
Kristen Phillips of the CCC laid out results of test she did with saturated Manitoba canola fields. Plant size and yield dropped 60-70 percent on land that was saturated compared to an average crop. Still worth harvesting, though, if an average year crop in many areas was 55 bushels.
