Reading Time: 2 minutes In a time of flat or falling prices, canola and barley offer a little ray of hope, according to Moe Agostino, chief commodity strategist with Farms.com Risk Management. Tight supply is positive for canola, but the key is strong demand fuelled by the plunge in the Canadian dollar, Agostino told a packed room at FarmTech. […] Read more
Canola and barley markets offer opportunities in a time of low crop prices
Fundamentals favourable for canola and barley but not other grains and oilseeds, says commodity strategist Moe Agostino
Crop prices tied to petroleum and that’s not good for farmers
British economist says the biofuel boom led to a massive increase in production of grains and oilseeds, which firmly linked agriculture to energy markets
Reading Time: 2 minutes Producers in the FarmTech conference room looked crestfallen after David Jackson told them the global oilseed market is tied to petroleum — and that oil prices will remain low for a long time. “A lot of it is out of your control,” said the British economist and director of oilseeds at LMC International, a global […] Read more
Don’t expect hog heaven in 2015
Analyst Kevin Grier says markets overreacted to PEDv last year, but the current drop in prices is likely overdone, too
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s been a year since porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv) was found in Canada, and the wave of high prices caused by the disease seems to be coming to an end. “Traders seem to think this disease has been licked and is behind us because the pricing now on hogs in futures markets are such […] Read more
Expert advice for ergot control
There’s no silver bullet for combating ergot, but mowing grasses near fields and good agronomics can make a big difference
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ergot is a rising threat on the Prairies, and plant researchers are trying to figure out the best way to combat the disease. “Everyone is concerned with fusarium head blight, but ergot is right up there in terms of danger,” said Jamie Larsen, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge. Rye and […] Read more
Farmers are the front line for slowing herbicide resistance
Weed scientist says producers need to extend rotations, not overuse glyphosate, and employ the most effective tank mixes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Herbicide resistance is like a forest fire — only you can prevent it. That was the message from weed scientist Linda Hall, who said producers need to step up to prevent a situation like that in the U.S. where glyphosate-resistant weeds are now epidemic in corn, soybeans and cotton crops. “It’s easy to say that […] Read more
Website to shine a light on grain prices
Data updated on a daily basis for eight zones across the Prairies
Reading Time: 3 minutes Don’t know if your local elevator is offering a good price or not? There’s an app for that. Or at least there will be once www.pdqinfo.ca is fully up and running. The new website, created by the Alberta Wheat Commission with $743,000 in federal funding, aims to give farmers timely and accurate pricing data for […] Read more
Don’t expect diesel, fertilizer, and chemicals to match oil’s steep decline
Experts say it’s a mixed bag when it comes to input costs
Reading Time: 4 minutes Falling oil prices are bad news for energy producers, but that should be good news for farmers and other big users of fuel and energy-intensive products. “We’re paying 30 or 40 cents a litre less for gas today than we were three or four months ago,” said Michael Burt, director of industrial economic trends with […] Read more
Wild pollinators earn their keep on the farm
Wild pollinators may boost yields and help crops mature more uniformly, and also are a natural source of pest protection
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s crop-planning season and that means it’s a good time for making plans to create a wild pollinator habitat near your crops. Having a strong pollinator population can offer a benefit to crops, said Mark Wonneck, an ecologist at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Calgary. Bees are an important part of both alfalfa production and […] Read more
New BIXS boss wants beef industry to help revamp — and fund — database
Hubert Lau says he hopes industry partners will help ‘build models where everybody wins’
Reading Time: 2 minutes The new operators of BIXS aren’t interested in reinventing the wheel, but want to partner with industry to take the livestock database to the next level. And while funding for the latest revamp of the Beef InfoXchange System is still being worked out, the money likely won’t come out of farmers’ pockets, said Hubert Lau, […] Read more
Devilish dollar: What’s good for producers may mean more pain for packers
Cargill and JBS plants in Alberta need more cattle, but a low dollar makes it harder to get them and also has some negatives for feedlots
Reading Time: 4 minutes A low dollar means double trouble for Alberta’s big packers — and puts stress on feedlots, too. “In 2015, with smaller cattle numbers and bigger exports, we’re going to see some pressure on our packing plants and feedlots to stay better utilized,” said Brian Perillat, senior analyst and manager with CanFax. Despite its shrinking herd, […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
