September has started off on a bit lower of a note in the cash cattle trade. Which, given the time of the year, isn't all that surprising. According to Anne Wasko of the Gateway Livestock Exchange, U.S. fed cattle was down to $141 in the south for live trade, while the northern states sat in... Read More
Category: Markets
There's no doubt that nitrogen prices have seen a steep price increase again as of late. Most of this momentum is being propelled by the current state of the natural gas market. Sam Taylor, farm input analyst with Rabo AgriFinance, says North American natural gas prices are the highest they've been since about 2008. "What... Read More
Improved growing conditions for much of Western Canada has Statistics Canada predicting a much larger crop for 2022 harvest than was previously reported. The latest principal field crop report, published August 29, is derived from predictive modeling based on July field conditions. StatsCan says the Crop Condition Assessment Program shows that overall plant health in... Read More
Fertilizer pricing and supply continues to occupy the mental space of farmers across North America. There are still as many questions about the future of fertilizer prices as there have been since they skyrocketed following the summer of 2021. Supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine have created volatility, and many are watching the... Read More
Ag machinery sales are showing a decline compared to last year, looking at the first seven months of 2022, however, this isn't necessarily indicative of a bad year, says the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM). The AEM flash report for the month of July shows a decrease of 7 per cent for tractor sales in... Read More
Jon Driedger of LeftField Commodity Research recently took a tour across Western Canada with LeftField Commodity Research and Argus Media to analyze the yield potential of the Prairie crop. Like any year, there are extremely variable pockets, but Driedger says for the most part, yields are looking average. The summary for cereals — with the... Read More
Many eyes are focusing on the latest CanFax report, and Anne Wasko, of the Gateway Livestock Exchange is one of those pairs of eyes. Particularly the August cattle-on-feed numbers — which were down by three per cent. What is so exciting about that? As Wasko explains, it's the first time we've seen on feed numbers... Read More
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published its August World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report on Friday. Looking globally, the USDA's projected lower world ending stocks for wheat and corn, while soybeans saw an increase of 1.8 mmt. Of note, soybean production for China was increased on higher area cited in recent provincial... Read More
The CEO of Sollio Agriculture says there will be certain fertilizer products unavailable for the 2023 growing season, but that nitrogen fertilizer supply for purchases this fall and winter should meet the need of eastern Canadian farmers. Casper Kaastra, head of the co-operative, says there are three key times of year for sourcing nitrogen. Last... Read More
CN Rail is preparing for more eastbound shipments of grain and other commodities from Western Canada. As part of its federally-mandated plan for moving grain in 2022-23, the railway says it's not only anticipating a much larger crop in Western Canada after last year's drought, but it's also expecting a re-balancing of trade corridors to... Read More