Crop prices need to stay high for farmers to recoup the record- breaking cost of this year’s crop, says Brent Konstapel (pictured with wife Megan and their
children Allison and Whitney).

STICKER SHOCK: Plant 2022 has been unlike any other, say farmers

The sky-high prices are bad enough, but availability issues also raise stress levels

They’re calling it the most expensive crop that Prairie farmers have ever planted. But the skyrocketing price of fertilizer, fuel, herbicides and other inputs isn’t the only worry. Lately it’s often been about getting your hands on products you’ve paid an arm and a leg for. Clint Jacula thought he had the bases covered. He

If you prick the round end of an egg it will help to prevent cracking while boiling. photo: thinkstock

Producer price per dozen dips as feed costs shrink

Falling grain prices have cut feed costs and so egg farmers will get a nickel less — but none of the big grocery chains will say if the savings will be passed on

For the first time in years, the price Manitoba egg farmers receive for their products is going down. Following a year of bumper grain crops, feed costs have declined — resulting in a five-cent reduction in the producer price of eggs in Manitoba. “The cost of production is updated as input costs change, it could


Weekly cattle auction report

Smaller volumes propped up prices

Feeder cattle prices at auction yards across the province of Manitoba brought in steady to strong prices during the week ended June 21. Smaller numbers helped to keep prices propped up, while a pickup in demand from local buyers was responsible for some prices moving higher. Scott Anderson, with Winnipeg Livestock Sales, said the demand

What was once pasture for cattle is now home to a flock of pelicans at East Shoal Lake.  photo: shannon vanraes

Shoal Lake: Flooded landowners slam province’s buyout tactics

Shoal Lakes farmers say they weren’t allowed to examine or make 
a copy of their assessment and pressured to take it or leave it

The paperwork is spread across the kitchen of the new home Brian McCulley purchased after flooding forced him off his land near the shore of West Shoal Lake — including a scorned buyout offer from the province. “It wasn’t fair market value and I didn’t consider what was on that piece of paper to be

Investing in the future

Pedro Medrano Rojas, acting assistant executive director, partnership and governance services of the World Food Program (WFP), offers a sobering observation on the Millennium Goal commitment to reduce by half the number of malnourished people in the world by 2015. “We’re not going to make it,” he says as he begins an interview. In fact,


U.S. pork stocks rise to a record high

reuters / Pork stored in U.S. warehouses in October rose to a record high for that month as hog herds were reduced due to high feed costs. Producers have hurried their animals to market at a record pace and, coupled with the normal seasonal buildup in hog slaughters, that could result in tighter supplies in

Natural gas, natural solution: Devine

It’s good for the environment, economy and food security, according to a former Saskatchewan premier

The move is on to switch heavy vehicles to natural gas, and that will benefit farmers and enhance global food security, says former Saskatchewan premier Grant Devine. There’s an abundance of cheap natural gas across the country, and new extraction technology is adding to the surplus here and abroad, he said. “We have no end

Hay is here, markets are there

The hay is here, it’s moving it that’s the problem. The Tyrchniewicz report found that the Manitoba and Saskatchewan forage industry has sufficient quality and quantities of forage for export markets, the spotty availability of up-to-date market intelligence and a lack of compressing, pelleting and cubing facilities hinders the export trade. Portage la Prairie and


The $5 million advantage of local processing

(Excerpts from the latest Manitoba Cattle Enhancement Council newsletter) Alberta cattle fetch more at auction than Manitoba cattle. A lot more. “One of the main reasons why Manitoba’s prices are lower is because they are the furthest distance away from any federally inspected slaughter plants,” said Canfax market analyst Brian Perillat. The simple fact is

Brazil planning giant Amazon soybean port

rio de janeiro / reuters / Brazilian port authorities are planning a new grains port in the Amazon region, a terminal designed to become the country’s largest soybean export centre and to slash transportation costs for farmers, the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper reported Feb. 18. The proposed 18-million-tonne-a-year Port of Outeiro would be built