There is an adage that small crops get smaller and big crops get bigger. The small part could hold true with the U.S. corn crop this year, which could spell big trouble for the corn ethanol industry as the economic pain spreads out from the small crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture shocked traders last […] Read more
Tag Archives Ag Finance
Shrinking corn crop presents growing problem for ethanol industry
Rubber track idea powers forward with drive motors
Economic benefit | The cart can power around sloughs without leaving big ruts in its wake
Just as farmers begin to wrap their minds around rubber tracked trailers, the technology has taken a giant leap forward by applying power to those tracks. The first known hydraulically driven air cart in North America emerged from the Horsch Anderson shop in Andover, South Dakota, this spring. Sporting a pair of rubber tracks from […] Read moreOat growers frustrated by problems, prices; farmers weighing options
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Man. — Why should Edgar Scheurer grow oats? He can grow grain corn and a host of other crops at his farm near Dugald, Man., for better net returns. Other crops use much less bin space and cost less to transport. And other crops have safer futures contracts and more attractive contract […] Read more
Small trader eyes Canada
GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) — Swiss agricultural trader Quadra Commodities aims to boost volumes by nearly half to five million tonnes in the next year and expand into the Canadian wheat export market. Quadra, created in 2010 by traders from the Australian Wheat Board, hopes to capitalize on its experience in that country’s deregulation process and […] Read more
Ottawa fails to outline marketing plan after CWB elimination
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Rick Swenson has not been a typical CWB supporter. The former provincial Progressive Conservative cabinet minister from Saskatchewan and Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association director advocated for a voluntary CWB and didn’t always have a permit book. But the Moose Jaw area farmer says the changes forced upon the agency by […] Read more
Breeders strive to improve disease resistance
Plant breeders are searching for new barley varieties that can fight off scald and stripe rust. Scald is the primary fungus that hits barley, limiting production for growers in central Alberta, said plant pathologist Kequan Xi of Alberta Agriculture’s Field Crop Development Centre in Lacombe. Varieties that once showed resistance are breaking down as scald […] Read more
Flag leaf stage proves best in taking on disease
Three year trial results | Yield and kernel weight were highest when the fungicide was applied at the flag leaf stage
There is little to be gained by spraying early for fungal diseases, says an Agriculture Canada plant pathologist. Early season application when plants are at the two to three or five to six leaf stage is becoming the norm, said Kelly Turkington at the Canadian Barley Symposium in Calgary July 9-10. A three year experiment […] Read moreToo much of a good thing can be fatal
One of the potential causes of sudden death in lambs is a condition known as overeating disease or pulpy kidney disease. The scientific name is enterotoxemia. This disease can affect any age of sheep or goats but tends to occur in vigorous, healthy, rapidly growing young animals. It often affects single lambs that are nursing […] Read more
Smoking hot rally may not be over yet
Room for speculators to enter market | Optimistic USDA forecasts from earlier this spring seem doubtful as crops wither
Crop prices have shot higher as U.S. Midwest corn dries up in the field, but experienced American crop market watchers say the rally still has lots of room to run. As long as dry conditions prevail and investors and commercial users eventually stampede into the market, prices could have a long way to go. “There […] Read moreHerbicide, fungicide combo not effective
Tank mixing herbicides and fungicides may be convenient for farmers, but it doesn’t provide effective results, researchers say. Fungicides for cereal leaf diseases are most effectively applied on the top two leaves in wheat and the top three leaves in barley, said Agriculture Canada research scientist Kelly Turkington. Spraying fungicide earlier, when timing is more […] Read more
