Crops Briefs, Feb. 23

Farmers favouring corn over wheat kiev / reuters / Ukraine is likely to bring in a grain harvest of 45 million tonnes in 2012 — its fourth largest in 20 years — despite a severe drought and cold snap which has hit winter grain crops. “This year’s harvest could total 45 million tonnes thanks to

U.S. Plains farmland values jump again

Farmland prices in the U.S. Plains states extended record-setting gains in the fourth quarter of 2011, rising 25 per cent from a year earlier as cash-rich farmers competed for land, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said Feb. 15. In a quarterly survey that provides an important gauge of the U.S. agricultural economy, the


Analyst says another price surge unlikely

An economic storm overseas has resulted in a few waves hitting Canadian shores, leaving canola markets slightly dampened by volatility and uncertainty. The European debt crisis, along with a weak American economy, has affected canola markets, ProFarmer Canada’s Mike Jubinville told farmers attending Ag Days. “Certainly this has always been and will continue to be

Agriculture takes three of five “useless” college degrees

Internet news site Yahoo Education recently published an article titled “College Majors that are Useless.” Agriculture topped the list, followed by fashion design, theatre, animal science and horticulture. The Yahoo article’s rationale was largely based on the projected continuing decline in the numbers of farms in the U.S. “In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor


George Morris Centre says Canada’s ethanol policy hurts livestock farmers

winnipeg / reuters / The George Morris Centre is calling on the federal government to curb or eliminate its support for ethanol production because it is pushing up feed grain prices. Ethanol has boosted feed grain prices by $15 to $20 per tonne in Eastern Canada and by $5 to $10 in the West, said






Cold-weather-proof biogas project to demonstrate renewable energy viability

Capturing methane gas from manure is taking the world by storm — in warm countries. In energy-poor countries of Southeast Asia, for example, biodigester facilities are popping up like mushrooms, including on large-scale livestock operations seeking less expensive and more reliable power, as well as ways to reduce odour and create a new revenue stream

Canada Well Positioned To Capitalize On Growing Food Demand

When, in 1965, Bob Dylan wailed, I ain t gonna work on Maggie s farm no more, he was echoing the mental picture almost all of us have about conditions on the farm. The dirty thirties largely spawned the identification of farming with grinding poverty, primitive technologies and capricious commodity prices, and the image has