Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s come to this. “It’s all about trying to make it a break-even year or a slight loss year, and prevent it from turning into a disaster year,” said David Derwin, commodities portfolio manager at PI Financial. A miserable harvest has created an abundance of poor-quality crops and with prices down sharply, producers are going […] Read more
In tough times like these, the goal is averting a disaster
The upcoming Hedging Edge workshop offers producers an introduction to options, futures, and hedging
Three crop marketing pros share their No. 1 tip
Reading Time: 3 minutes We asked the Hedging Edge experts for their No. 1 marketing tip for this fall. Here’s what they had to say. Neil Blue Provincial crop market analyst “My No. 1 tip — and this isn’t an earth-shaking one — is shop around. That means knowing your product first — getting a grade from potential buyers, […] Read more
Whew, there’s no malt shortage after all
Don’t cry in your beer — Alberta’s craft brewers have ‘lots’ of good-quality malt
Reading Time: 4 minutes Don’t worry — your favourite beer won’t be in short supply this year, despite recent reports that late-season moisture had seriously harmed Alberta’s malt barley crop. “The barley quality in 2016 is better than the 2015 crop, hands down,” said Kevin Sich, grain department manager at Rahr Malting near Alix. “If I needed a lot […] Read more
B.C. farmers learned to live with a carbon tax
Reading Time: < 1 minute B.C.’s carbon tax didn’t make its farmers less competitive, says a carbon tax expert. Brandon Schaufele studied its effect on agricultural trade for 12 different commodities and found the competitiveness of B.C. products wasn’t reduced. “There was very little evidence that the carbon taxes impacted trade at all,” said the assistant professor at the Ivey […] Read more
Farmers fear big price hit from carbon tax
The focus has been on the price of fuel, but the effect of a carbon tax on the price of fertilizer, chemicals, and machinery could be much greater
Reading Time: 5 minutes Sixty miles south of where Stephen Vandervalk farms lies the American border — an invisible line dividing farm country with the same growing conditions producing crops that will be sold to mostly the same customers. But the Fort Macleod producer worries that being north of the line is going to be a huge disadvantage when […] Read more
Can you afford to feed open cows this winter?
High prices have more than covered winter feeding costs, but now it may pay to preg check and cull
Reading Time: 4 minutes Pregnancy checking cows in the fall could save producers up to $250 a head in winter feeding costs — but is it really worth it? “Over the last 10 years, it really hasn’t been,” said Brenna Grant, manager of Canfax Research Services. “But there is a threshold, at about $1.02 per pound. If prices are […] Read more
Preg checking: Which method is right for your farm?
There are three methods to choose from, and each of them have pros and cons — as well as different costs
Reading Time: 3 minutes With cattle prices falling, it could pay to preg check your cows this fall — but which method should you choose? “The method that best suits your situation will really depend on the management of your herd, your geographic location, potentially even the year,” said Dr. Jessica Gordon, an assistant professor at the Ontario Veterinary […] Read more
Even a dry year didn’t slow fusarium’s invasion
Many expected fusarium levels to drop last year, but instead it spread east and north and was worse in the south
Reading Time: 3 minutes Despite dry weather in 2015, fusarium head blight was found in almost twice as many counties as it was in 2010. A province-wide survey conducted by provincial scientists detected fusarium graminearum — the pathogen that causes fusarium head blight in cereals — in 22 counties in Alberta, up from 13 counties in the 2010 survey. […] Read more
High costs threaten southern Alberta feedlot sector
Lethbridge County’s ‘head tax,’ WCB premiums, and a looming carbon tax are making his business uneconomical, says a prominent feeder
Reading Time: 4 minutes Other cattle feeders in southern Alberta may suffer the same fate as Western Feedlots if a local $3-per-head tax isn’t reversed. Last month, Western Feedlots — one of the country’s largest with 100,000-head capacity at its facilities near Strathmore, High River, and Mossleigh — announced that it would be winding down cattle ownership and feeding […] Read more
Beef sector questions need for transport rules changes
Officials fear new rules will favour public concerns over scientific evidence
Reading Time: 4 minutes The beef industry is bracing for changes to cattle transport regulations, fearing they might be based on perceptions rather than sound science. Current rules require animals be off-loaded after 48 hours of transport for a minimum of five hours and provided with feed and water, unless they can reach their destination within 52 hours. The […] Read more
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