My friends are divided into two camps. Some planned to celebrate Christmas in a new way, others do not want to change anything.

However, this is far from the biggest problem in our lives. As we approached the end of December, my mood, like that of most Ukrainians, was not at all Christmassy. The heroic achievement of 2022, when our lives hung in the balance and our defenders managed to repel the enemy, was replaced by the bloody routine of 2023.

The enemy has gathered his strength and is systematically pressing on various areas of the front. Our boys and girls fight back as best they can, but they lack weapons and personnel.

Sometimes it seems like it will never end. One of the faces of war is a psychological breakdown when you see how your friends die, how people find themselves without a home and without a solid support in life. And it may seem that you are powerless to stop it.

I live in the relatively calm region of Ukraine, although at night, we sometimes hear the buzzing of enemy drones with explosives and the sounds of gunfire as the military tries to shoot them down. But in general, in everyday life, people in my town do not see the obvious horrors of war.

However, the war does not allow us to forget about ourselves. Every week, solemn burials of fallen soldiers – our compatriots – take place here. They were ordinary people; farmers, builders, locksmiths and electricians. The war tore them from their homes and families and made them soldiers. Probably none of them ever thought they would die at the front, defending their Motherland.

I try to lead a normal life, because I have to worry about my family, earn money and solve various everyday tasks. I also have a garden and a small field that needs my attention. The only entertainment I allow myself is a quick coffee and soccer with my friends twice a week.

Every time I have pleasant moments in life, an unexpected thought comes to my head: we have a war… It’s been almost two years. And these are not some combat operations on another continent, somewhere far away. Only 300 miles away, bad people in military uniforms are breaking into homes to kill families.

It is quite difficult to explain psychologically. You live and do everyday things, like build or plant something. And you understand that if our boys and girls on the line of fire cannot withstand the onslaught of the enemy, it will all be unimportant.

Your house, your garden, your children’s education, your family photos, your plans – you will have to either run away or take up a weapon to try to stop the enemy.

Half a mile from my house, the fields are cultivated by local farmers. In three months, they will have to put seeds and fertilizers in the ground to grow a new crop.

These people have almost no money left, so their work turns into a casino game. If you are lucky, you will grow a good crop of grain and pay off your debts. If not, it’s better not to think about it.

The population of Ukrainian villages, where most farmers live, began to decrease many years ago. People did not like the lack of good jobs and comfortable living conditions, so they went to big cities or to earn money abroad.

Today, the situation has worsened significantly. Dozens of villages near the front line have simply been wiped off the face of the Earth, hundreds of villages have been destroyed, to the extent that they are unlikely to be revived in coming years.

Their inhabitants move to the rear regions, having no possessions except the clothes on their backs. All of them need to be settled and integrated into a new community.

A large number of men who worked in agriculture were mobilized for the army. Some died, some were wounded, and others still have to fight. If you take 10 or 15 healthy men from a village with 200 people (mostly old people) for military service, it begins to decline. There is no one to work on tractors, there is no one to do communal work.

Women with children often go abroad, fleeing the war. The consequence of this can be the disintegration of the family, since the husband and wife do not see each other for years. This is a very painful aspect of war, one of its many poisonous results.

Opportunities for earning money have deteriorated. The budgets of all public and private companies have been significantly reduced, because it is necessary to allocate a lot of money for defence of the country.

At the same time, the prices of food and other goods have increased. And frankly, I can’t imagine how a person who earns $160 to $200 a month in a minimum-wage government job can feed their family. In the winter, this money will only be enough to pay for utilities.

I am telling this so you can imagine what war is like for an ordinary person who is not at the front and does not hear the explosions.

This is a snake that won’t let you go and bites day and night. You are in limbo and you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. You can’t plan for the future, except that sooner or later you will be alone and wearing a military uniform.

However, you learn to appreciate those things that you did not pay attention to before.

Once, back in 2014, we were sitting at a table with friends. Then, Russia attacked Ukraine for the first time and occupied Crimea and part of two eastern regions. The economic situation immediately worsened due to the enemy invasion in the country and my friends, whom I considered to be intelligent people, began to moan that it was necessary to agree to Putin’s demands because they were tired of the war.

Their “fatigue” was that they had no money to go to resorts in Turkey and Egypt three times a year. I remember getting angry and saying they should be glad we were not digging anti-tank ditches for half a pound of bread a day, as it was during the Second World War.

It is a sin to complain about a small salary or the lack of delicacies on the table when your neighbour is now standing in a trench up to his knees in icy water and counting enemy shells flying at his head. And if he does not stand there, then the projectiles will fly on your head.

That’s right, the lives of tens of millions of people and the safety of the entire civilized world today depend on those men and women in the east and south of Ukraine who are now desperately holding back the enemy, who has 10 times more people and military equipment.

Therefore, it is strange to see in the Western press the opinion that the world is tired of the war in Ukraine.

I know who is really tired – those business representatives who are used to trading with Russia. Even today, dozens and hundreds of companies continue to supply Putin with components so that he can produce more modern weapons and kill Ukrainians.

It is necessary to understand the main thing: this is not a war between Russia and Ukraine over some territories. It’s a war between those who think it’s OK to kill and humiliate people, and those who don’t.

If the Ukrainian military does not hold back the enemy, Russia will not stop there, and all the dictators of the world will have an excellent example to follow.

My farmer neighbours will go to the field in the spring. They will prepare the land for sowing, plant and grow crops. At the moment, they are not interested in whether the grain will be expensive or cheap. They know what to sow and they are not going to leave their native land.

I have the opportunity to emigrate and know that I could start a new life abroad. But I will never do that. We will not retreat anywhere.

These are our fields.

–Ihor Pavluik is a Ukrainian agricultural

The post What is war fatigue? appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

The post This week on ‘Between The Rows’ appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“We had a really disappointing box beef value fall off to start the week yesterday, and a little follow through today,” said Matthew Wiegand, risk management consultant at FuturesOne.

Most retailers have completed purchases for holiday sales, Wiegand added.

“The retailers have their prime ribs booked for Christmas, so there’s probably less aggressive retail buying until we get out past Christmas.”

CME benchmark February live cattle fell 2.2 cents, to 153.625 cents/lb., while the spot December contract lost 1.675 cent to 151.55 cents/lb. (all figures US$).

Most-active CME January feeder cattle lost 1.975 cents, to 181.8 cents/lb.

Boxed beef prices fell again on Tuesday, with choice cuts losing 66 cents, to $242.65/cwt, while select cuts lost $1.97, to $219.14/cwt, USDA said.

Meanwhile, lean hogs dropped, pressured by ample market-ready supplies, despite strong slaughter runs.

“Seems like there are still enough market-ready hogs, short term,” said Wiegand.

CME February lean hogs lost 3.6 cents, to 86.925 cents/lb.

Nearby December hogs firmed 0.2 cent, to 82.275 cents/lb.

The CME’s lean hog index, a two-day weighted average of cash hog prices, eased eight cents, to $82.79/cwt.

— Christopher Walljasper reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.

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CBSA on Wednesday said charges have now been laid against a 38-year-old Calgary resident after a semi-truckload of produce was referred for further inspection on Dec. 25, 2020 at the port of entry at Coutts, Alta., about 100 km southeast of Lethbridge.

While examining the produce shipment, CBSA officials said, they found 228.14 kg of methamphetamine, the street value of which was estimated at about $28.5 million.

The truck’s driver was arrested and turned over to Alberta RCMP, who have since charged Amarpreet Singh Sandhu of Calgary with importation of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking, CBSA said.

Sandhu was released from custody Jan. 14 and is next due in Provincial Court in Lethbridge on Feb. 11.

The discovery amounts to CBSA’s largest meth seizure ever at a land border crossing anywhere in Canada, the agency said Wednesday.

The previous reported record was for about 200 kg of meth seized almost exactly a year earlier, at the Ambassador Bridge port of entry at Windsor, Ont., on Dec. 24, 2019.

“It is because of CBSA officers’ diligence while screening essential goods that this record amount of methamphetamine did not reach our streets or cause harm to our communities,” CBSA southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan district director Ben Tame said in the agency’s release Wednesday. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Music fills the cul-de-sac, a familiar Christmas carol that draws the neighbourhood children outside and their parents right behind them, hastily throwing on coats and boots and gloves against the December cold.

The night is a cacophony of noise — cheering, yelling, singing, screaming — and the noise grows only louder when the source of the music comes into view. Bedecked in lights and decorations, the white truck crawls through the neighbourhood, trailing children behind it as it finishes its slow loop past every house.

No, it isn’t Santa Claus — only farmer Walter Moebis and his best friend Clint Jackson spreading some Christmas cheer through central Alberta.

“You turn on ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ full blast and all of a sudden, you’ve got people coming out of their house dancing in the streets — in the middle of winter in Alberta,” Moebis said with a laugh.

The solution to this year’s winter blues came to Moebis and Jackson one night when they were sitting around watching the news.

“We were getting so wrapped up in everything and just sick of the doom and gloom,” said Moebis, a semi-retired farmer from the Olds area. “So Clint and I got to talking, and we said, ‘Why don’t we decorate a truck and drive around in the evenings to lift everybody’s spirits?’”

Jackson, a custom airbrush artist, created a magical Christmas scene for the box of the truck. The friends strung up some Christmas lights, plugged in a loudspeaker, and the rest is history.

“The first night we went out, I said to Walter, ‘If we can make one little kid’s night, it would be worth it,’” said Jackson, who also owns a tire shop in Olds. “The first night, we probably had 80 or 90 children come out to wave at us. That’s well worth it.”

By the time they wrap it up by the new year, the pair will have visited Olds, Sundre, Bowden, and Didsbury.

“When we got in the truck the very first night, it made our hearts swell so much. We said we’ve got to do it whenever we can get out. That’s why we’re doing it — it makes us feel good,” said Moebis. “It has just turned out fabulous — way better than we could have ever imagined.”

The pair typically starts their tour just as it’s getting dark out. That’s when local seniors are sitting down to dinner in their nursing homes.

“We feel sorry for these seniors who can’t get out for a walk and can’t see their grandchildren and children,” said Jackson. “They’re locked up in these homes, and they’re only allowed to go from their room to the dinner table. That’s their social activity — having dinner. So we thought we’d go over there at dinnertime, turn on the music, and drive really slow a couple of passes. Every one of them was waving at us.”

After that, they choose a small area of town to tour. Word has got out and people in these communities have come to expect them, with some even driving in from out of town to take in the show.

“We’re getting hundreds — hundreds! — of people out on the street every night,” said Moebis. “We’re one truck — we’re not a parade!”

But for as much as these friends are spreading cheer to their communities, they’re “getting it threefold back,” he added.

“We both get so much joy in spreading that kind of joy to other people,” he said. “Once we did it once, we were hooked. It just makes us feel good.”

And for Jackson, this has been “a lot more positive” way to spend his evenings than watching the news.

“This year is gloomy,” he said. “I had a bad depressive year, and I just wanted to cheer it up while cheering other people up.

“I’d say it’s working so far.”

— Jennifer Blair

No idle hands on this farm

Normally at this time of year, Lee Townsend and his family are looking forward to a warm-weather holiday.

Although his parents have a house in Arizona, Townsend, his wife and their three daughters won’t be heading south of the border this winter.

“We’ve basically been hunkered down since this all started in March,” said the Parkland County beekeeper. “We got home from Arizona March 6 and the pandemic basically took over March 12. This has just been our life for the past eight months like everybody else.”

Well, maybe not just like everyone else — unless they have three kids under the age of 10 with a seemingly endless thirst for learning new things.

It started with home-schooling, which is something new for the family.

“The first month was a challenge because there was a learning curve,” said Townsend. “But now the girls are flying with it. That’s been refreshing. The lack of socialization is hard, but we’ve just been spending a lot of time together as a family.”

And a lot of time learning new things.

In addition to receiving lessons from dad on beekeeping, Natalie (age 9), Miranda (8) and Erica (6) have tried their hands at woodworking, mechanics, and carpentry. There’s piano lessons to keep up with and the three sisters have also taken up cross-country skiing.

“They’re like little sponges, so we’ll fill them up with as much information as we can when they’re young,” said Townsend.

The girls are also learning some Spanish.

“Whenever we’re allowed to go back into society again, they’ll have a little bit of a head start on other things,” he said. “That’s the extent of what winter is going to look like to us.”

The family’s version of hunkering down sounds pretty exhausting but Townsend said it will pay dividends.

“Short-term pain for long-term gain is never a bad thing,” he said.

— Alexis Kienlen

A cosy country Christmas

Charlotte Wasylik had a Christmas vision: Bring together a small number of local vendors and neighbours one Sunday afternoon to enjoy hot apple cider and some family fun in the fresh air ahead of the holidays.

But just like so much else in 2020, those festive plans had to go online — but that hasn’t robbed them of their magic.

“We knew (moving) online was a really high possibility,” said Wasylik on Dec. 9, three days before the market was set to take place (virtually) at Chatsworth Farm near Vermilion.

“If we’d planned for an earlier weekend, it would have been a go, but I’m glad we made the decision before it was made for us.”

She and her mother were looking for a way to make farm pickups possible for their farm-direct customers when they “stumbled on the idea of a winter market,” said Wasylik, whose family produces beef, chicken, turkey, lamb, and grains for milling.

“We know that a lot of other farms have little pop-up shops and farm stores, but we don’t have anything like that yet,” she said. “So we thought, ‘Why don’t we do something that can include other local producers and local makers?’”

Wasylik reached out to a few local vendors, including a local cheese maker, a distillery, a baker, as well as artists and crafters, to create a Holiday Mini Market at Chatsworth Farm.

“We just wanted to give people a chance to come out and enjoy the fresh air where there’s lots of space to spend time as a family,” said Wasylik. “We wanted to give people an opportunity to just have fun with the season.”

While the latest provincial restrictions don’t allow that, the online version was still an opportunity to show what ‘truly local’ looks like.

“A lot of people talk about the 100-mile diet, but when you think about it, 100 miles is a pretty big area,” she said, adding her market vendors all live within a dozen miles of Vermilion. “Our area is very small but very bountiful.”

— Jennifer Blair

A landscape to play in

For some Alberta families, isolating can get pretty crowded.

On the Taylor farm near Caroline, 15-year-old William starts the list of residents with his three brothers, parents and grandparents; moves on to pets (two cats and several dogs); and doesn’t attempt to itemize the menagerie of goats, rabbits, ducks, geese, chickens, cattle and horses — except for Meeps the bottle-fed goat who either think she’s a dog or a member of the family.

It is, needless to say, a busy place.

“With everything being shut down, we are fortunate to have such a landscape to play with,” said William.

The ice rink is a popular place, especially for eight-year-old twins Elias and Jacob, and caring for the animals takes a lot of everyone’s time.

But they also find time for contemplative, indoor moments.

“We have a journal time with our family together and one of our family members picks a topic and we all write about it and share,” said William. “That’s been a pretty big hit with us.”

While the holidays will be just immediate family this year, it will be as special as ever, he said.

“We’ll have just as much joy as always around here, with our animal friends and family.”

— Alexis Kienlen

Quiet times can still be good times

Making backyard hockey rinks has become a craze across the country as housebound families look for a way to beat the winter blues.

You can put Kevin Bender on that list of do-it-yourself ice-rink makers but he’s actually scaling back this winter.

Normally, the Sylvan Lake-area farmer builds his hockey rink to NHL-size dimensions, but since this year’s version won’t be hosting large gatherings, the father of five will make a family-size version.

“We’ll make a big hockey rink here, and the kids can use that,” he said. “And usually I push up a big pile of snow, and they can snowboard on it, and sled off of that.”

The family plans to do some skiing at the Canyon Ski Resort, but the annual week-long family gathering in Fairmont for Christmas has been called off.

“When all of us are there, there are 28 people, it’s quite a crew,” said Bender. “That’s not going to be happening either.”

But the family has found other activities to pass the time.

“We played board games and card games, which has been good,” he said.“We’re just sticking closer to home, which is fine. We’re good with that.”

— Alexis Kienlen

Mrs. Claus moves her Christmas visits online

Every year in December, Mrs. Claus would clear her busy schedule and make her way down from the North Pole with a bag full of goodies and a list of her very own.

Those on her list were lucky ones indeed. They were getting a visit from Mrs. Claus herself.

With Santa working away back home, it was up to his better half to spread some Christmas cheer — baking cookies, telling stories, and sharing the magic of the North Pole with little ones across central Alberta.

But like everyone else in Alberta right now, Mrs. Claus will be doing her Christmas visits over Zoom this year.

“I’ve been able to bring the kids to the North Pole instead of Mrs. Claus coming to visit them,” said Mrs. Claus’s alter ego Kerry Ringness, who raises bison near Rocky Mountain House (when she’s not at the North Pole, that is).

“I didn’t know how it was going to work or if it was going to be strange because you’re not right there in person, but it has been so magical. The kids are super excited, and we’ve had so much fun.”

Ringness had been doing home visits for about five years when the pandemic derailed her usual Christmas plans this year. But after learning about How to Save Christmas — a group of Santas and Mrs. Clauses doing meet-and-greets over Zoom this year — Ringness jumped on board.

“It’s been so fun,” she said. “It has made my heart happy, and for the kids I’ve got to visit with, it’s been really good as well.”

Joined by her behind-the-scenes helper elf Mary-Belle, Mrs. Claus virtually welcomes her new little friends into her workroom at the North Pole, where she uses some magic to light the Christmas tree.

Then out comes Santa’s most prized possession: The list.

“Santa has let me borrow his Book of Names,” she said. “It’s a giant book that has children from zero to 110 in it. If you’re in that range, your name is in the book, and there’s information about each child in it. I love to share that with them.”

That’s usually when the questions start: What are Santa’s favourite cookies? (“Store bought and homemade — everybody knows that.”) What do you feed the reindeer? How many reindeer are there? How many elves are there? Are the elves busy? What is Santa doing right now?

“It’s really fun,” she said. “It seals the deal that Santa’s real for kids. If Mrs. Claus is real, then Santa must be real, and the kids will say, ‘Mom, that was the real Mrs. Claus.’

“It seals their belief in Christmas and the magic of the North Pole.”

But it’s not just the little ones who get caught up in the magic, she added.

“I’ve had some parents stay on the call, and they’ve been right up there with the kids,” she said. “That’s so fun. You can see they’re just children as well. We’re all somebody’s kid.”

And during a recent visit with a seniors’ home, Ringness was tickled to learn you’re never too old to wonder what reindeer like to eat.

“They asked questions, and they were the same questions the kids ask. They were just as happy as the kids. That’s what I think is beautiful. We all need that Christmas magic.”

Having the chance to spread that Christmas cheer “means everything” to Ringness, who has connected with families as far away as Ontario and New Jersey this year.

“It’s made my heart happy that I can bring a little joy right now,” she said.

“Everybody’s Christmas is going to be different this year, and for Santa and Mrs. Claus, Christmas is different as well. We’re not doing the same kind of in-person visits because we’re trying to be safe, but people still need a lift.

“They need to know that Christmas can still be magical.”

— Jennifer Blair

The post Yes, it’s different — but rural Albertans are making the best of it appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“There’s a big demand for our trees this season,” said Peter Kappeler, owner of Fir Ever Green Tree Farm near Falun. “It’s become a big thing to take the whole family out to the farm and get a fresh Christmas tree.”

This year, folks are picking out their trees earlier, and more people are visiting during the week, said Kappeler, who grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Switzerland.

For some, the tree will be the centrepiece of an unusual holiday season spent quietly at home. “They can’t go to Florida or Mexico, so they want to have a real Christmas tree in their household this year.”

Mostly, though, people are looking for something to do.

“There’s not much a family can do right now. There’s not much sports going on, events have been cancelled, but we’re still open here,” said Kappeler. “It’s an outdoor activity that people can still do as a family — wander around our trees and hunt for the perfect Christmas tree.”

It’s a similar story at R Family Tree Farm near Sylvan Lake.

“In 2018 and 2019, we were a little slower, and then all of a sudden, it’s picked up again,” said owner Gary Porttin. “It’s been a good year so far. It has been nice out, and the weather helps for people coming out to get a tree early this year.”

A number of families have come during off-peak hours to enjoy some time outdoors.

“It’s only one family at a time, so they can enjoy the firepit and the toboggan hill and the skating rink and still be separated from people,” he said. “It’s a good way to get some fresh air.”

High demand, short supply

Wholesale trees have also seen “ridiculous” demand, said Bruce Wilkins of Mountain View Christmas Trees, a wholesaler based in Okotoks.

“We’re really glad we have the same inventory we had in the past, because otherwise, we’d be worried about leaving people hanging,” he said.

This year, they’ve also partnered with Heritage Park in Calgary, and a portion of the proceeds will help support the park.

“With COVID, that’s been especially important,” said Wilkins. “The park has had a rough year.”

Aside from the pandemic, a few other factors are at play. The first is how long it takes to grow a Christmas tree — 10 to 14 years in Alberta.

“There’s limited stock,” said Wilkins. “Growers can’t produce more trees than they have planted, and right now, the crops that are maturing are the ones that were planted during the housing downturn, so there are fewer trees available.”

The sector is also shrinking. Between 2011 and 2016 (the last available data), the number of Christmas tree farms in Canada dropped 21 per cent.

“A lot of the farmers are retiring,” said Wilkins. “So there are fewer trees in that regard.”

And finally, big-box retail stores “tend to buy unsustainably,” and that drives down both the quality and the quantity of trees available. Retailers usually buy wholesale trees out of the United States, but they often die quickly because they’re not conditioned to Canada’s climate.

“If they aren’t grown for the conditions, they won’t thrive after they’re cut,” said Wilkins. “But there are lots of small growers and retailers out there within the community. So when you buy a Christmas tree from them, it’s a great way to support local businesses.”

Picking the right tree

Look for a premium-graded tree, he said.

“It’s not a sales pitch — it’s an actual grading system that the growers use,” said Wilkins. “Basically every lot will tell you it’s premium, but you can quickly see if they’re pulling your leg.”

Premium trees are sheared to have the perfect cone shape that’s synonymous with a Christmas tree.

“They don’t just grow like this — we have to maintain those trees, fertilize them by hand, and shear them with machetes,” said Kappeler. “There’s a lot of work in the tree business, and it’s mainly hand labour for the Christmas trees.”

A premium tree should also have an almost perfectly straight trunk, and almost no holes or bald spots.

“Anything less than that drops down to a No. 1- or a No. 2-graded tree, and the quality curbs off quite quickly on that,” said Wilkins.

Tree height is another important consideration.

“People are always telling me they want a small tree, but a normal household probably has room for a six- to eight-foot tree,” said Kappeler. “They always look smaller in the field than they actually are in the house.”

It’s also helpful to know what kind of tree you might like before driving onto the lot. A Canadian-grown variety will make a “big difference in the quality,” said Wilkins. Some of the most popular homegrown varieties are Balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, and white spruce.

“If you’re looking for the most beautiful tree, I’d recommend a Fraser fir or a Balsam fir,” he said. “Those are very hardy. We do about 4,000 trees a year, and maybe three of them get returned to us. They fare extremely well in the conditions.”

A tree will likely dry out on its ride home, so make a fresh cut (as the stump get plugged up with sap) and get it into water right away.

“So we basically cut about two inches off the bottom and then the tree can drink water.”

Keep your tree away from a heat source (like a fireplace or hot air vent) and keep them watered and “they’ll last for months,” added Porttin.

And there’s nothing like a real Christmas tree, said Wilkins.

“Almost everybody who comes to visit us comes back in the following years,” he said. “It really does become a family tradition.”

And for Porttin, that’s the real magic of helping a family pick out the perfect Christmas tree — especially in a tough year like this one.

“It cheers everybody up,” he said. “Everybody comes in good spirits and everybody leaves happy. It almost brings back a little normalcy.”

The post Tree farmers growing magic and memories this holiday season appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

“These markets are going to just be very choppy and of course we’re going into December and nobody likes to work (during the holiday season). There’s more parties, Washington goes on Christmas break, nothing gets done,” said Scott Capinegro of Barrington Commodity Brokers in Chicago.

This trading week is shortened this week due to U.S. Thanksgiving on Thursday. U.S. markets will be closed Thursday, then close early on Friday.

“So no grain markets are open tonight (Nov. 22) and we open again Friday morning at 8:30 CST and we close at 12:05, so I mean nobody’s doing anything that day either,” Capinegro said.

On the U.S./China trade war front, traders await the meeting next week between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. Capinegro doesn’t expect much to come out of the meeting, though.

“Do I expect a deal? The earliest would be in January. I can’t see anything coming out of China that quickly. Look how long it took us to negotiate with Canada and Mexico,” he said.

China holds the bargaining power, according to Capinegro. U.S. farmers are harvesting their corn and soy crops and are being forced to store them while demand in China for soy meal is faltering. The African swine fever outbreak is raging on in China leading to less demand for protein to feed hogs.

On top of that, Brazil has planted some of its soy acres early and will have some soybeans ready for export in January.

“So China’s pretty much all of the sudden starting to get in the driver’s seat,” Capinegro said.

Capinegro does believe a deal will be reached between China and the U.S. eventually, but he suspects it will be on China’s terms.

— Ashley Robinson writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.

The post CBOT weekly outlook: Markets quiet heading into holidays appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.

February closed 0.5 cent lower at 71.025 cents (all figures US$). April ended down 0.1 cent, at 75.275 cents.

Processors need fewer animals that backed up on farms during Christmas holiday plant closures, which will be repeated when they close on New Year’s Day, traders and analysts said.

Some hogs are heavier and plentiful due to nutrient dense newly-harvested corn, a Midwest hog buyer said. And unseasonably warm temperatures in the Midwest prior to this week caused pigs to grow faster, he said.

He added that the onset of bitter cold weather now in most of the nation’s hog-growing region will slow animal weight gains. Those hogs are consuming feed to generate body heat rather than pack on pounds.

Farmers are also avoiding opening doors to swine buildings in order to retain heat, the Midwest hog buyer said.

Live cattle mainly weaker

Most CME live cattle contracts closed moderately lower after investors sold deferred months and bought December in anticipation of steady-to-firmer cash prices this week, said traders.

December live cattle, which will expire on Friday, closed 0.525 cent/lb. higher at 122.025 cents. Most actively traded February ended 0.475 cent lower at 121 cents, and April finished down 0.225 cent to 121.7 cents.

Cattle are raised outside, so traders expect this winter’s first blast of arctic air across the U.S. Plains to slow animal weight gains, said U.S. Commodities president Don Roose.

Lighter cattle makes them less available to packers, giving feedlots more leverage in negotiating prices.

Other supportive cash price factors include higher packer margins, improved wholesale beef demand and tight cattle supplies in parts of the Plains.

Feedlots in Kansas and Texas are asking $124-$125/cwt for cash cattle that last week in the U.S. Plains traded from $119-$120. Packers have not responded with bids.

None of the 637 cattle available at Wednesday’s Fed Cattle Exchange attracted buyers. Last week, a few cattle there sold for $120/cwt.

Buy stops and technical buying sent CME feeder cattle higher.

January feeder cattle closed 0.775 cent/lb. higher at 145.175 cents.

— Theopolis Waters reports on livestock markets for Reuters from Chicago.

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Wheat and corn futures both were the highest in more than a week, with prices notching narrow gains on better-than-expected U.S. export sales.

Trading volume in grains remained light ahead of Friday’s abbreviated session and closure for Monday’s Christmas holiday.

Chicago Board of Trade January soybean futures finished down 5-1/4 cents at $9.48-3/4 per bushel, the lowest since Sept. 12 (all figures US$).

Malaysian palm oil fell 1.7 per cent and CBOT soyoil fell one per cent on outlooks for increased Asian palm production while recent rains in Brazil and Argentina should aid emerging soy crops there.

“Soybeans are methodically building a short position,” said Ken Morrison, analyst and author of Morrison on the Markets.

Investment funds sold an estimated net 8,000 soybean futures contracts and were net buyers of 5,000 corn contracts and 3,000 wheat contracts, traders said.

More stringent specifications for U.S. soybean imports in China, the top global buyer, added to the bearish headwinds for soybeans. U.S. shipments to China as of Jan. 1 will be required to have reduced foreign material content to expedite unloadings, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday.

USDA on Thursday said weekly U.S. export sales of 796,300 tonnes of wheat and 1.6 million tonnes of corn were higher than analyst expectations while sales of 1.7 million tonnes of soybeans were at the high end of estimates.

Weekly sales of 191,500 tonnes of soft red winter wheat — the variety traded on the CBOT — were the largest in more than three years. Traders said buyers in Asia took advantage of a recent drop in prices to purchase feed-grade SRW wheat.

CBOT March wheat futures rose to the highest since Dec. 6, gaining 3-1/2 cents to $4.27 per bushel. CBOT March corn futures were up two cents to $3.51-1/4, the highest since Dec. 12. Both contracts had dipped to lifetime lows this month.

“Certainly, at these prices there is some support,” said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank.

“But it is a tough bet to see a sustained pickup in prices as there are ample supplies.”

— Michael Hirtzer reports on commodity markets for Reuters from Chicago; additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in London and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.

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