The optimism cattle producers started off 2012 with has become a little less broad and a little more cautious as 2012 starts to wind down. High commodity prices, a brutal US drought and high replacement costs among other factors have really dampened the high enthusiasm seen at the beginning of the year. It was February... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Australian company GrainCorp has rejected a US$2.7 billion offer from U.S.-based Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) on the heels of releasing its annual profit statement and lifting its share dividend. GrainCorp claims the ADM deal "materially undervalues" the company, as it announced a 19% increase in net profit for the 2011-12 fiscal year. GrainCorp's shares... Read More
Farm auctions have long been a gathering place, a chance to meet with old friends and maybe even make new ones over a round of spirited bidding. While auctions have changed some, with many people attending via Internet, they're still a great place and sometimes the only place to find much-needed items. In Western Canada,... Read More
Utter the words "supply management" and those involved in the agriculture industry are likely to have strong opinions for and against. The same can be said for the U.S., where an expired Farm Bill and recent run-ups in feed costs have converged to make a whole lot of farmers and industry folk nervous about the... Read More
Last week I wrote about the demise of Prop 37, a California bill that called for, among other things, labeling of genetically modified ingredients in food products. It didn't take long after I posted the story for someone to send me a Tweet containing a link to an online petition. The introduction for the petition... Read More
Last week's USDA report managed to bring one notable surprise to light. Soybean yields were actually much higher than anticipated. While that may have been a welcome surprise to farmers and is overall a good news story, there will be a bit of an adjustment period while a market, that doesn't really like surprises, adjusts... Read More
Keeping the crop in the bin during market dips but still having the bills paid is one advantage of using a cash advance program. For canola and several other crops, the cash advance is administered by the Canadian Canola Growers Association. Farmers can access $100,000 interest free, and up to another $300,000 borrowed at CIBC's... Read More
Dow AgroSciences has offically confirmed today that Helen Choquette's PIN number was drawn for the Nexera Canola Keys to the Combine Contest yesterday at Red Deer’s AgriTrade – giving her full ownership of a 2012 New Holland CR 9090 combine, valued at $331,000. In 15 months almost 50,000 keys were unlocked in the Nexera Canola... Read More
Viterra Inc. announced today that Glencore International PLC's purchase of the company is on hold until at least December 10th. The deal is hung up on regulatory approval from the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China. Industry Canada has approved the $6.1 billion deal that will see Winnipeg-based Richardson International buy up... Read More
It's the nasty phytoplasma that took many Prairie farmers by surprise in 2012 — aster yellows. Carried on the aster leafhopper, aster yellows can infect over 200 species but took a particularly heavy toll on canola this year. The irony is, canola isn't even a preferred food source, as the leafhopper tends to prefer grasses.... Read More