Reading Time: < 1 minute The Chicago Board of Trade on Feb. 9 said it amended its rule change to limit cash grain delivery instruments held by non-grain firms, its latest efforts to quell industry criticism for its longtime benchmark wheat contract. The proposal, which has yet to receive regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, would give nongrain […] Read more
CBOT To Limit Speculators – for Feb. 16, 2009
China Drought Creates Water Shortage
Reading Time: < 1 minute Millions of people and cattle in north China face shortages of drinking water because of a severe drought, the government said Feb. 7, promising to speed up disbursement of billions of dollars of subsidies to farmers. State television quoted disaster relief officials as saying 4.4 million people and 2.1 million cattle lacked adequate drinking water. […] Read more
Canola prices defy gravity from heavy stocks
Reading Time: 4 minutes For Don Bousquet’s three times daily market reports, visit www.albertafarmexpress.ca Grain and oilseed futures at the ICE Canada futures market rallied back since my last column, with gains in the U. S. futures markets supporting prices. Canola rallied as China picked up at least 5 to 10 cargoes of canola and was said to be […] Read more
2009 to see strength, acreage the big question
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s Your Business For Don Bousquet’s three times daily market reports, visit www.albertafarmexpress.ca Grain and oilseed futures at the ICE Canada futures market closed the year with a lightly traded choppy tone as prices generally firmed. There was little fresh news. Canola climbed above the $400 per tonne level in the March contract. However, demand […] Read more
Malting barley supplies weigh on world market
Reading Time: 3 minutes Resource News International Many Prairie producers with selectable barley sitting on their farms may find their chances limited for still having it selected as malting barley. Tougher malt specifications and a struggling Canadian Wheat Board barley export program are limiting those opportunities. And this year, thanks to good quality and high production, there is no […] Read more
Ontario law threatens farm pesticides
Reading Time: 2 minutes OTTAWA Ontario’s “arbitrary” ban on “cosmetic” pesticides threatens their use in agriculture, says CropLife Canada. “This is about more than just dandelions,” CropLife president Lorne Hepworth warned the 350 people attending CropLife’s annual meeting here Dec. 3. “It’s about agriculture and the not-so-subtle impact this has on the impressions Canadians have about food production and […] Read more
New market lows as crops are huge
Reading Time: 3 minutes Grain and oilseed futures at the ICE Canada futures market have dropped to fresh contract lows since my last column. The continued weakness in the economic markets is pressuring values down as is the weakness in the U. S. futures markets. Canola dropped well below $400/tonne as slow fresh demand and a record large canola […] Read more
AgResource sees world wheat crop down 5 pct in 2009
Reading Time: 2 minutes GENEVA (REUTERS) World wheat production is likely to fall 5 per cent to 647 million tonnes next season, against a record 682 million tonnes harvested in 2008, due to a drop in area sown, U. S. analyst AgResource said November 13. “We believe the world wheat crop will lose around 35 million tonnes largely because […] Read more
Big crop but canola holding up well
Reading Time: 4 minutes For Don Bousquet’s three times daily market reports, visit www.albertafarmexpress.ca Grain and oilseed futures at the ICE Canada futures market have continued to decline since my last column. The general weakness in the U. S. market, the global financial instability and the record large canola crop pressured the market down. Trading volumes were light and […] Read more
Pioneer Hi-Bred launches U. S. hedging service
Reading Time: < 1 minute In a bid to extend its reach into the U. S. grain industry, DuPont said Nov. 13 it will launch an electronic instant hedging and cash grain commodity transaction service. The “e-Pit” program, a joint project by DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred business unit and Farms Technology LLC, partly owned by Pioneer, is aimed at speeding a […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
