Rising barley demand promising for feed grain prices

Barley prices have proved to be an accurate leading indicator of what is to come in the corn and feed grain market

Reuters / Keep your eye on barley prices. Morocco’s recent removal of import duties on feed barley sets the stage for a scramble by other importer nations to cover their own barley needs in the weeks ahead. As a result, U.S. barley stocks can be expected to decline, and any steep cut in barley supplies

Canada’s Harper says Viterra bid not “primarily” foreign

reuters / Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said March 25 that the structure of Glencore’s $6.1-billion deal to buy No. 1 Canadian grain handler Viterra means it should not necessarily be seen as a full foreign takeover. Harper’s comments come as the Canadian government and regulators begin reviewing the offer by Swiss-based Glencore, already the


Letters — for 2012-03-29

Full costs to farmers underestimated Some years back Co-operator reporter Allan Dawson quoted a farmer saying that basis is a licence to steal. Two March 22 opinions are cases in point where we as farmers take a back seat to the private trade margin traders. In “The $5-million advantage of local processing,” Manitoba Cattle Enhancement

Big payday for Schmidt if Viterra sells

Viterra CEO Mayo Schmidt will earn millions of dollars if Glencore buys Viterra, according to the Globe and Mail. Citing security filings the Globe says Mayo Schmidt will be paid an estimated $37.5 million through “a combination of the value of his stock holdings and of the fully vested value of his outstanding options and



New ICE wheat contract will struggle

The outlook for the new ICE Future Canada’s wheat futures market isn’t great, according to Neil Townsend, the Canadian Wheat Board’s North American market analyst. The long-running spring wheat futures market in Minneapolis didn’t get enough business before the Winnipeg market launched in January, he said. As a result, Minneapolis wasn’t “liquid” enough — a


Rising canola futures find point of resistance

Canola futures on the ICE Futures Canada trading platform moved higher during the week ended March 16. Concerns about the record pace of usage and the resulting depletion of old-crop canola stocks stimulated some of the upward price action. Chart-related speculative fund buying interest also contributed to the price advances. Much of that buying was

Farmers fear consolidation, not foreigners, in Viterra bid

Reuters / For most of the past year, western Canadian farmers have braced for the rush of competition that will follow the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s 69-year-long monopoly on grain marketing in August. Now, they’re preparing for the possibility of seeing less than expected. The fertile region’s biggest grain handler, Viterra, said March


FNA gets into cash advance administration

Ontario’s ACC wants to expand in the West, but only into crops that aren’t covered now, says Jaye Atkins

Farmers taking out cash advances on their crops this year will see some changes in who is administering the programs. As the Canadian Canola Growers Association expands its administration to take over the crops formerly handled by the Canadian Wheat Board, a new player has emerged to manage the program for several commodities in Ontario

Tax credits rise on wheat, barley

Staff / Wheat and barley growers whose money stayed in the Western Grains Research Foundation’s checkoff fund during 2011 can expect a relatively larger tax credit for their buck. Prairie growers — other than Alberta barley growers, who pay into a different checkoff fund — will see their WGRF checkoff money eligible for federal Scientific