Current dynamics of the fertilizer market are quite different from where they were just one year ago. That said, there are still big demand questions, geopolitical pressures, and logistics issues yet to be hammered out — they're just in different places this year. To unravel the complex trade flows of phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen fertilizer,... Read More
Category: Markets
If you've been watching live cattle futures, you know there is some significant strength making an appearance. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has been hitting new contract highs when it comes to live cattle futures — signalling strong demand and prices for cattle feeders in the United States. However, as Anne Wasko of the Gateway... Read More
After years of forward momentum on a trade deal with India, it seems progress has stopped, at least for now, as there are reports the Canadian side has paused negotiations. What exactly has transpired over the last few weeks is perhaps only known by those in the room, but the outcome — one of continued... Read More
Markets came under pressure following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's September supply/demand report on Tuesday. The USDA boosted its harvested area for corn by 774 thousand acres to 87.1 million acres, resulting in a U.S. corn production estimate of 15.1 billion bushels — slightly above trade expectations. The average corn yield for... Read More
We often hear that farming is a risky game, due to a massive amount of variables. When you have risk, you need to do what you can to make sure that you're limiting the potential downside. It's not realistic to make a farm business risk-neutral, but we can limit the exposure to losses through risk... Read More
Now is the time for the beef markets to take a bit of a breather, as the retail buying is done headed into the Labour Day long weekend, and we wait for things to really start to pick up after September for Q4. Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange explains in this episode of... Read More
If you followed along on the ProFarmer yield tour last week, you'll know that temperatures were not kind to the field scouts, with day time temps soaring well above 100 degrees F. Ted Seifried, chief market strategist for Zaner Ag Hedge, has been on the tour nine times, and says this has to be one... Read More
Statistics Canada (StatsCan) released the model-based principal field crop estimates report earlier this week. It is no real surprise to anyone that there were some pretty big year-over-year production cuts across a lot of commodities. Brian Comeault of Farmers Business Network (FBN), joined RealAg Radio host Lyndsey Smith to discuss the latest report, and dig... Read More
The ability to stay within maximum residue limits (MRLs) can make or break a grain deal. Export markets keep a keen eye on whether imported crops meet specific tolerance for disease, toxins and pesticide residues, and MRLs play a key role in facilitating trade and establishing the ground rules for global market accessibility. Earlier this... Read More
Brian Grete, editor of Pro Farmer, uses one word to sum up this week's crop tour: hot. But it's not crop yield that's sizzling, but the crop itself. Extremely hot temperatures followed the team of nearly 100 field scouts on the four-day tour of seven states collecting over 1800 corn and soybean samples, he says.... Read More