Crops
Sacramento | Reuters — California Governor Jerry Brown approved on Wednesday a US$7.6 billion plan to improve water supplies in the drought-stricken state that will be put before voters in November, ending a year of political wrangling over the measure. California is in the throes of a devastating multi-year drought that is expected to cost […] Read more
Lawmakers in drought-hit California agree on water plan
Is your pasture ready to graze? Start counting leaves
Grazing a pasture for six weeks costs about half of the annual production potential for your forages
Reading Time: 3 minutes Deciding when to graze a pasture has nothing to do with plant height, says an Idaho-based grazing expert. “Height doesn’t tell us very much,” Jim Gerrish said recently at a Foothills Forage and Grazing tour near Acme. “What we really want to know is, physiologically, is a plant ready to be grazed?” And leaf stage […] Read more
Islamic State militants grab new weapon: Iraqi wheat
Baghdad/Abu Dhabi | Reuters — After seizing five oil fields and Iraq’s biggest dam, Sunni militants bent on creating an Islamic empire in the Middle East now control yet another powerful economic weapon: wheat supplies. Fighters from the Islamic State have overrun large areas in five of Iraq’s most fertile provinces, where the United Nations […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola rangebound, awaiting news
CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts moved lower during the week ended Wednesday, but were still holding rangebound overall as market participants continue to try and get a better handle on the size of this year’s crop. Statistics Canada releases its first survey-based production estimates for the 2014 canola crop on Aug. 21, […] Read more
Further selling expected in CBOT corn, soybeans
CNS Canada — Corn and soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) moved lower during the week ended Wednesday — and the two markets are expected to remain under pressure until at least mid- to late September. “I think we’re just going to see this gradual selling over the next month, month and […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soy dips as harvest expected to exceed forecasts
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures dipped Wednesday on expectations that autumn harvests will exceed government forecasts due to favourable weather, while new-crop corn bounced from a contract low set the previous session. Forecasts for rain in some of the drier areas of the U.S. Midwest raised expectations that the U.S. Department of Agriculture […] Read more
Southern Alta. barley harvest underway
CNS Canada — Harvest started this week for some barley crops in southern Alberta — parts of which have reported little or no rain for weeks. “I’m in southern Alberta (where) we just started harvest on our barley (on Monday), and I would say that the barley crops look good, (but) we’ve been a bit […] Read more
U.S. grain backlog to ease after firms, union reach tentative deal
Chicago | Reuters — A backlog in grain shipments from the biggest U.S. West Coast terminal should start easing as inspections resumed on Tuesday, after unions and grain companies reached a tentative agreement to end a labour dispute. The agreement, between port workers and a group of Pacific Northwest grain companies, was announced by a […] Read more
Canola growers working to reduce honeybee winterkill
CNS Canada — The number of Prairie canola acres makes the region a great place for honeybees to thrive — but given increasing winterkill rates, canola growers must make sure they take the precautions needed to maintain that relationship. “It’s a very mutually beneficial relationship,” said Gregory Sekulic, an agronomy specialist with the Canola Council […] Read more
Churchill throughput helps ease demand for railcars
CNS Canada — Shipping wheat and canola to Mexico by boat out of Manitoba’s Port of Churchill is helping handlers manage ongoing railcar logistics issues in Western Canada. Grain handler Richardson International was the No. 1 grain shipper through Churchill in 2013 and is expected to remain so this year as well, starting the season […] Read more