Emissions reduction needs a lifeline

Emissions reduction needs a lifeline

Canadian farmers can’t extract added production costs from global markets

Reading Time: 3 minutes Nobody likes to change, especially not when they’re comfortable and things are going well. But that attitude can lead to complacency and inertia as the world passes by. This is the delicate balance that farmers are being asked to strike, with little evidence that it’s going to pay them dividends of any kind. The issue […] Read more

Brodie Haugan, a rancher from Orion, is the new chair of the Alberta Beef Producers.

New chair takes the reins at ABP

Brodie Haugan says important issues include the decline in the cow herd and the long-term health of the cow-calf sector

Reading Time: 3 minutes The youngest-ever chair of Alberta Beef Producers says he’s excited to bring the voice of the next generation to the organization. “To be honest, when I first got involved with ABP, I had no intent of getting to the top position,” said 32-year-old Brodie Hagen, who ranches near Orion. “I just saw the opportunity to […] Read more


A custom hauler spreads dairy manure on hay ground using a Husky 18000L Slimline liquid manure spreader on a farm at Wallenstein, Ont., north of Kitchener, in the spring of 2018. (Husky Farm Equipment handout photo via Reuters)

No poop for you: Manure supplies run short as fertilizer prices soar

Ontario honeywagon maker all sold out

Chicago | Reuters — For nearly two decades, Abe Sandquist has used every marketing tool he can think of to sell the back end of a cow. Poop, after all, needs to go somewhere. The Midwestern entrepreneur has worked hard to woo farmers on its benefits for their crops. Now, facing a global shortage of […] Read more



Photo: iStock/Getty Images

With fertilizer costs high and seed scarce, U.S. farmers turn to soy

'These prices are just crazy'

Chicago | Reuters — North Dakota farmer Jennifer Meyer typically devotes at least 20 per cent of her 2,500-acre farm to corn, which provides a convenient feed for the cattle she raises with her husband. But this year she is looking to find another crop for those 500 acres near Wilton as she has been […] Read more

Paragon Ag Service’s site west of Melfort. (Lakecountryco-op.crs)

Two Saskatchewan co-ops to buy ag input retailer

Paragon Ag Service assets to be divvied up

A pair of Saskatchewan co-operatives are expanding their reach in the crop input retail sector in that province’s northeast, with a deal to buy an independent dealership chain. Lake Country Co-op and Prairie North Co-op announced Tuesday they have agreements in place to buy the assets of Melfort-based Paragon Ag Service from owners Sherman Boland […] Read more


CBOT November 2021 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, dark green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy down on South American weather, technical pressure

Firm U.S. dollar weighs on wheat; rising crop input costs supportive for corn

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures fell on Thursday after five straight sessions of gains, pressured by technical resistance and beneficial forecasts for rain in top export competitor Brazil. Wheat eased from a two-week high hit earlier on Thursday as weaker crude oil prices and a firmer U.S. dollar offset tightening global supplies. Corn […] Read more

MGEX December 2021 spring wheat (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn, soy futures up with global demand

MGEX December wheat at nine-year high

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures hit a two-week high on Wednesday and soybean futures also advanced, supported by brisk global demand, firm cash markets and surging vegetable oil prices. U.S. wheat futures rose as Minneapolis Grain Exchange spring wheat futures set a nine-year top on tightening global supplies of high-quality milling wheat. Additional […] Read more


Bayer’s cross symbol hangs in a terminal at Frankfurt International Airport. (Typhoonski/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

Bayer sees farmers pre-buying inputs as supply-chain snarls continue

Chicago/Berlin | Reuters — U.S. farmers are pre-buying seeds and chemicals they need earlier than normal, in a bid to secure supplies for next spring amid sector-wide supply-chain problems, a top executive at German agricultural and pharmaceuticals firm Bayer said Tuesday. Bayer also estimates its average seed prices will go up about five per cent […] Read more

(JimPattison.com)

Deere lifts 2021 forecast on solid equipment demand

Reuters — Deere and Co. on Friday raised its full-year earnings forecast after quarterly profit topped Wall Street estimates on the back of strong demand for farm and construction equipment. The world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer now expects net income in fiscal 2021 to be between $5.7 billion and $5.9 billion, up from a range […] Read more