Margins in the feedyard business are tighter than they have ever been in an extremely volatile market. Fuel is expensive, feed is expensive and the Canadian dollar is high. The beef industry is struggling to stay competitive. "Break even" is a term that holds more weight now than it has the industry's history. With volatility... Read More
Category: Western Canada
When you talk about factors affecting the cattle markets as we head into the feeder run, a number of things emerge. High commodity prices are creating a new normal when it comes to a baseline feeder price. Producers have to get over the initial sticker shock and adjust to the fact that higher feeder prices... Read More
Where are we headed in agriculture? What does the future hold for biotechnology and food production? Where will the next big innovations in these areas come from? Dr Stan Blade hopes those innovations will come from in Alberta. Dr. Blade is the CEO of Alberta Innovates - Bio Solutions. They help companies working on research... Read More
Demand for canola from crushers has remained strong throughout the summer months, stocks are tight and exports are good. That being said, harvest is just around the corner and a number of questions will be answered regarding actual acres and yield potential. Everyone is aware of the disastourous year that Western Manitoba and Easter Saskatchewan... Read More
Rising feed prices, expensive oil and a high dollar have made it a difficult time to feed cattle. You can add to that the continued instability in financial markets around the world and it's hard to imagine that our ability to compete hasn't been heavily damaged. There is no doubt that the Canadian industry needs... Read More
The road to economic recovery in Canada is delicate. Growth has been moderate at best, with events around the world adding to that fragility daily. European countries are dealing with high deficits and attempting to balance budgets under the pressure of a frustrated and angry population. In the U.S., the debt ceiling debate, the inability... Read More
By Shaun Haney RealAgriculture.com has been at several plot tours and company meetings this summer and there is a definite common theme of product development trending amongst the life science companies. It appears that in the near term the agronomic innovation will be derived in the areas of seed enhancement and fungicides instead of herbicides.... Read More
Yesterday I was at a ag-retailer crop tour in Vulcan, Alberta with Dupont. While Dupont was discussing some of their new products like fungicides and seed treatments, I decided to talk to some of the ag-retail attendees and find out some more about them. In this weeks episode of Talking to Farmers (but in this... Read More
With the Western Canadian winter wheat harvest about to begin, extra attention needs to be paid to harvest timing. When to swath, when to straight cut and when to combine are integral decisions to your profitability. The biggest threat to your harvest tends to be the weather. Wet weather can greatly impact quality if you... Read More
Getting your winter wheat off the field as quickly as possible is extremely important if you are looking to maintain quality. The longer that crop remains in the field exposed to the elements, the greater the chances are that germ, vigour and overall grade quality can be negatively impacted. That's were combine efficiency comes into... Read More