It’s refreshing to see an analyst come up with actual price forecasts, rather than just dancing around all the issues. What numbers should a producer pencil in for crop prices in the new crop year? That was the multibillion-dollar question for the thousands of producers attending Crop Production Week and the Western Canadian Crop Production
Analysts Weigh In With New-Crop Prices Forecasts
Hog Losses Cut Wide Swath
I was one of many who believed Saskatchewan, with its landlocked feed grain supply, was a logical place for the hog industry to prosper. Alarge number and individuals and businesses have lost money due to the demise of the Saskatchewan pork industry. Big Sky Farms, which is currently under creditor protection, is just the latest
CashPlus Controversy Has Little Traction
Alittle over two years ago, the Canadian Wheat Board came up with a program called CashPlus for malting barley sales. Depending on who you listen to, it’s either been an absolute failure or a tremendous success. CashPlus was initiated at a time when the Conservative government was doing everything in its power to end the
Caught Between Lifestyle And Commercial
There are lifestyle farmers who are happy. There are commercial farmers who are happy. There are also farmers caught in between who are not happy at all. For an increasing number of people, the good life is a house in the country with a few acres and some animals. They like having more space than
Big Sky Outcome May Test Sask. Party
The Saskatchewan Party government is proving you can lean a little bit to the right without upsetting too many people. The province’s $20 bounty on coyotes has drawn some adverse reaction, but isn’t contentious for most people who understand the explosion in the coyote population. As a kid on the farm, coyote sightings were rare
Should You Stay Or Should You Go?
There’s a lot of soul searching on cow-calf operations across the country. Producers are wrestling with whether to stay in the business or cut their losses and get rid of the cows. With the fall calf run now in full swing, the immediate economic outlook has worsened. The rapid increase in the value of the
Answering The Acres Question
How much land do you farm? For some reason, it’s socially acceptable to ask a farmer this question. Asking a business person a comparable question about financial capacity or asking a person on a salary or wage about their income level might seem like prying into a personal matter. But, as farmers we tend to
Touring The Drought Zone
This will not go down in history as one of the big drought years in Saskatchewan. When everything is tallied, 2009 will not rival years such as 1988 and 2002 for crop-related drought losses. In early July, the drought conditions in west-central and northwest Saskatchewan were steadily worsening. Farm group leaders and opposition politicians were
Producers Are Lying To Big Brother
Farmers are lying to Statistics Canada about their seeded acreage, their yields and their stored production. Some producers actually take pride in this. In the end, it could backfire. To be sure, it’s annoying to get the calls from Statistics Canada as they do their various crop production surveys. Unlike private industry surveys where you
Seeing The Future
“I subscribe to the view that we’ll see more shortages and better prices more often in the years to come.” To which view of the future of the grain business do you subscribe? View No. 1: the growing world population and increasing prosperity will lead to a long-term uptrend in agricultural prices. View No. 2:
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
