Soybean futures have dropped to 14-month lows and corn is seemingly unable to break through a brick wall at $3.96/bu. The bears are seemingly winning over the bulls and their weather concerns. Soybeans broke lower last week from the Brazilian currency tanking with the JBS corruption scandal, which made Brazilian beans cheaper for foreign buyers... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Grain markets entered the month of June all in the red under some varying opinions of what the crop potential is looking like in the Northern Hemisphere. Canola ended up being the biggest loser of the week, down 3.25% as planting pace picked up in Western Canada. Chicago wheat was the 2nd-worst performer for the... Read More
While Chicago wheat futures trended lower, spring wheat contracts on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange rose sharply this past week on concerns about the supply of higher quality, high protein wheat. The September contract closed on Friday at US$5.87/bu — the highest it's been since the middle of June 2016. There are three primary factors, explains... Read More
As the smell of barbecue fills the air in many neighbourhoods, this is normally the time of year when cattle market highs are well behind us. But the market moved against that trend this week, as live and feeder cattle futures, as well as cash prices, climbed higher. In this week's edition of the Beef... Read More
For parts of Western Canada, the rain keeps on pouring. Early wet conditions could be conducive to root rot problems in pulses. Fortunately, for three of the four main culprits —rhyzoctonia, fusarium and pythium, the plants will generally grow through the vulnerable early seedling stage if a seed treatment has been applied, notes Robyne Bowness-Davidson,…Read More
This spring has been a challenge for many growers in the northern tier of Alberta and Saskatchewan due to wet conditions continuing from last fall. As it feels like crop insurance deadlines are screaming by, growers have limited choices on what to do with these potentially unseeded acres. There are basically three options: seed a... Read More
The federal government is moving toward establishing a national food policy that will revolve around four "pillars," but details on what it will look like beyond that have yet to be determined, according to Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay. The minister launched consultations, including an online survey, on establishing a national food policy in a speech... Read More
GrainsConnect Canada has announced plans to build a fourth grain terminal in Western Canada. Pending necessary approvals, the company will build a 35,000 tonne elevator at Huxley, Alberta (approximately 75km southeast of Red Deer.) GrainsConnect, a joint venture between Australia-based GrainCorp and Japanese ag co-op Zen-Noh, has three other elevators under construction, at Maymont and... Read More
2016 was likely the worst year on record for fusarium head blight (FHB) infection in Western Canada, as the disease has spread west and north since becoming a problem in southern Manitoba in the early 1990s. According to the Canada Grain Commission's harvest sample survey, almost a quarter of cereal samples in Alberta tested positive…Read More
In this episode of Wheat Pete's Word, RealAg Agronomist Peter Johnson wonders why insects are such a problem already, seeing as it's been a wet year, and that usually means the fields are full of disease, not bugs. He also dives into crop progress — what sort of advances have been made in Ontario, as... Read More