Rumours are building again that Russia may limit their grain exports (specifically wheat) and the government might start increasing the purchasing price from farmers for the government reserve stocks (the government is definitely worried about rising domestic food prices). This would incentivize producers to sell to the government versus grain merchants/exporters. SovEcon said earlier in... Read More
Category: Features
The latest on the Ontario government's plan to regulate neonic seed treatments, the avian influenza outbreak in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, changes at the Canadian Grain Commission and a review of the markets, including the sharp drop in feeder cattle futures, over the past week — here's the TWORA podcast for December 12th:
Animosity and mistrust in the food system — or the "agri-food value chain," as it’s called in some circles — is costing farmers billions of dollars in waste. At a time when the powers-that-be are urging the sector to bolster the economy by pulling together for increased jobs and exports, Oakville-based Value Chain Management International... Read More
Bigger is better. Go big or go home. The push for excess in all things, it seems, knows no bounds. But how big is too big? Or is that the wrong question to ask? From combines, seeding units and land bases, to suburban houses, fast food meals and the cars we drive, there’s been a... Read More
I remember reading an interesting quote that, paraphrased, said society was losing touch with where food came from and that the increase in urbanization was a death knell for rural life. The quote was from the 1920s. Shocking? A little, but it’s also an excellent bit of perspective for where we sit now, nearly 100... Read More
When Megan Lacelle and Kaitlyn Van De Woestyne needed to tackle a particular project for their fourth year University of Regina journalism course, Megan immediately thought of telling the story of Jim Commodore. While the step-change occurring with the PFRA pastures is an ongoing news story in and of itself, it's Jim and Jim's history... Read More
Grains started the month of December with wheat in the driver’s seat thanks to concerns out of Russia and Australia. In the Land Down Undaa, ABARES, the Aussie version of the USDA, cut its official wheat production estimate by one million tonnes (or about four per cent from its previous estimate) to 23.22 million tonnes,... Read More
A media training exercise I do with some of my colleagues is to get farmers to pitch us agriculture stories, and we respond like journalists would. It’s a bit exaggerated — the farmers don’t have much time to think about their stories, and we kick back when the pitch is made, to ensure they’ve covered... Read More
The discovery of avian flu in BC, StatsCan's latest crop production estimates, Canada's Outstanding Young Farmers and more — get caught up on this week's farm news by listening to the TWORA podcast with Kelvin Heppner for December 4th, 2014:
If beef prices at the retail level stay elevated, will consumers pick pork and poultry? Have we topped out on these cattle markets? It’s questions like these that many ranchers and feed yard operators have been thinking about, so in this special “Ask Annie” edition of the Beef Market Update, Shaun Haney went to the... Read More