Rancher’s Risk and Return will be an important tool as producers consider new ways to manage downside risks and upside potential.  file photo

New calculator assesses financial risk for cattle operations

Can show how sensitive an operation is to different selling prices 
and cattle price insurance coverage levels

A new decision support tool to assist cattle producers in calculating their cost of production and risk exposure has been posted to Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s website. Rancher’s Risk and Return is an Excel spreadsheet calculator that takes an innovative approach to assessing the market price risk that cow-calf and feedlot producers continually face.

The value of natural capital

It’s hard to imagine that just one year ago, many areas of the province still had too much moisture. True, some farmers, such as those along the Assiniboine River downstream of the Shellmouth Dam are still suffering from too much water. But the story for the rest of the province this year is all about


How Euro zone uncertainty affects wheat markets

Charting and technical analysis may be likened to reading a price road map where patterns form on the chart representing the road signs. If one is going to undertake a study of charts, it is imperative to learn the signs and their implications for prices. Classic formations, once identified, will point the way, signal caution,

Rancher’s Return Software Updated

Anew decision support tool to assist cattle producers in calculating their cost of production and break-even prices, has been posted to Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development’s website. The new tool is an updated version of the highly successful Rancher’s Return excel spreadsheet calculator. “The 2011 version extends the initial cow-calf analysis further through the supply


Province Reverses Stand On Quota Levey

The Manitoba government has killed a proposed surcharge on quota transactions for dairy, eggs and poultry. The province will not proceed with the controversial two per cent levy after including it in the 2010-11 budget last spring, Manitoba Agriculture Minister Stan Struthers said. Struthers made the unexpected announcement at the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba annual

Radar’s Potential Studied For Gathering Crop Data

Anew eye in the sky is being prepared for launch, and Canadian researchers will be among the first to figure out how to make it work for farmers. Ahead of the launch of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sentinel-1 satellite in 2011, an international team of researchers will collect space-borne radar images throughout the 2009