I haven’t logged into Facebook for a month and I feel great.Not only am I avoiding getting pulled into pointless and annoying discussions about all sorts of things, but I’m loving the extra time it’s giving me. I might only spend 15 minutes a day on that app, but in my busy life I’ve got […] Read more
Tag Archives Hedge Row — page 4
Battered markets are more resilient than they might seem
China knows how to stick it to Canadian farmers. The Europeans know how to keep out Canadian farm products, but they do it with more subtlety and grace. With the United States, who knows what Donald Trump or Joe Biden will do with North American free trade in the next four years? It’s hard to […] Read more
Don’t let the Green agenda trump the Growth agenda
Chrystia Freeland has a tough balancing act ahead of her and farmers should hope she succeeds. As the new finance minister, she must deliver on her Liberal party’s and her prime minister’s desire to create a formidable “Green” legacy, while protecting this country’s ability to do business, to produce goods and services at world-competitive costs, […] Read more
Understand farmland economics, not just the farmland market
Farmers are sometimes accused of knowing lots about how to produce crops, livestock and other agricultural commodities, but little about agricultural markets and marketing. (If you’re reading this column, you’re probably not one of those.) However, when it comes to the most important market farmers operate within — their local farmland market — the average […] Read more
Let us give thanks to our systems, government and politicians
The images of Beirut shattered by a mushroom cloud, right on the 75th anniversary of the A-bomb attack on Hiroshima, stand as a powerful indictment of a government and civil society that has failed to manage a known risk. Terrible accidents happen, but the 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that exploded on Aug. 4, in […] Read more
Agriculture export infrastructure’s future not guaranteed
There are a lot of things you can take for granted in a First World nation. The rule of law applies. Civil liberties have the force of law. Property rights are protected. National interests trump local concerns. Actually, you can’t count on the last one. In a federation like Canada, the world’s second oldest federation, […] Read more
Tough couple of years could end up making farmers stronger
It’s hard to find a silver lining to this winter of woe. But for those farmers who survive its many travails and get a better year in 2020-21, perhaps stronger farms and Canadian farming system will arise. That’s the kind of wisdom I sensed developing among farmers and those who serve them during the Canadian […] Read more
Corn and oats most profitable in Man., but corn most risky
Looked at one way, oats and corn are the obvious best big-acreage crops to sow this spring. Looked at another way, the two crops are both likely to be profitable for farmers on the eastern Prairies. Looked at still a different way, oat crops look super-safe to grow and corn looks super-risky. It’s all a […] Read more
Decade began with the wheat board and ended in chaos
We roared into the 2010s raging about the Canadian Wheat Board as we rode atop a raging commodity bull market. We stumble out of 2019 savaged by dreadful weather, struggles to break even and a suddenly harsh world environment. And in the midst of it all, we saw farmers make some great profits, suffer some […] Read more
Stress, anxiety can result in poor decision-making, risk
How much value-at-risk (VaR) is your farm carrying this winter? And what’s the chief cause of that risk? With so much of this year’s crop in poor condition and in perilous situations, the average prairie farm’s revenues could swing by tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on how well those crops are treated […] Read more
