Crops
Reading Time: < 1 minute In his weekly Call of the Land interview Alberta Agriculture pest management specialist says Scott Meers now is the time to start watching the swather and cutter bar for insects to get an idea of whether they will be a problem next year. While conditions will still determine numbers and this year’s lygus populations don’t influence […] Read more
Time to start counting bugs for next year
GRAINS: Nearby soy rallies on low old-crop supply; MGEX wheat jumps
Reuters — Nearby U.S. soybean futures climbed to a one-week high on Friday as U.S. processors scrambled to find scarce old-crop supplies, with the start of the next harvest still at least a month away in the Midwest. MGEX spring wheat futures touched a two-week high amid concerns about excessive rains hurting crops in key […] Read more
CIF Gulf Grain-Nearby soybean basis continue surge on processor demand
CHICAGO, Aug 22 (Reuters) – U.S. CIF Gulf soybeans nearby basis markets were sharply higher, continuing a trend this week, as processors encouraged farmers to sell any remaining beans left from last year’s harvest to meet their immediate crush needs, traders said on Friday. A slower-than-expected start to the southern harvest, typically the first new-crop beans available to processors and exporters, […] Read more
Pricey tile worth the money, producers say
Costs of up to $1.20 a foot means tiling makes the most sense in areas with ‘substantial rainfall’
Reading Time: 5 minutes Hidden in the hills west of Bentley, an eight-mile system of black plastic tubing snakes its way underground through the low areas, silently sucking excess moisture out of the saturated valleys that have made working the land a struggle for area farmers like Jason Lenz. But since installing his tile drainage system nearly 30 years […] Read more
Colorado voters to weigh in on GMO food labeling
Reuters — Colorado voters in November will have their say on a proposition that would require labels on foods that contain genetically modified ingredients (GMOs). Proponents of GMO labeling initiatives, who say they have the right to know what is in their food, have been gaining steam in the U.S. Their wins have come despite […] Read more
France forced to import wheat as rain hits crop quality
Paris | Reuters –– France’s rain-hit wheat crop has delivered the first shock of the 2014-15 season: the EU’s top grower and exporter is buying Lithuanian and British milling wheat to mix with its unusually poor-grade crop to meet contracts signed before the harvest. French exports exceed those of Britain and Lithuania on the world […] Read more
Big Rock Brewery founder Ed McNally, 89
The lawyer and farmer who founded Calgary’s Big Rock Brewery has died at age 89. Ed McNally, who founded what’s now Canada’s second largest Canadian-owned brewery in 1985, had retired as the company’s CEO in 2012, remaining its “chairman emeritus.” The cause of his death late Tuesday was not released. “Ed leaves behind a legacy […] Read more
DuPont to shed Kocide fungicide business
DuPont’s copper fungicide Kocide, used in Canada to manage diseases in bean, potato and assorted hort crops, is set to meet a new maker. DuPont Crop Protection announced Wednesday it will sell its global copper fungicide business — including its Kocide and ManKocide brands and trademarks and its Houston, Tex.-based copper fungicide plant — to […] Read more
European quality issues support Prairie durum bids
CNS Canada — Durum bids in Western Canada are showing strength relative to other wheat classes, with premiums for higher-quality supplies expected to remain in place or widen as the industry awaits Canada’s crop. Canada’s 2014-15 durum crop is estimated at 4.9 million tonnes by Statistics Canada, which compares with 6.5 million the previous year. […] Read more
U.S. grains: Markets rebound from losses, contract low in soy
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain futures edged higher on Thursday in a rebound from losses the previous session, with solid export sales helping to support the recovery. Soybeans settled mixed, after the new-crop contract matched a contract low set on Wednesday on expectations of bumper U.S. harvests. Expectations for massive U.S. crops continued to […] Read more