“Monstrous” Canola Yield Reports Pressure Futures

Canola futures on the ICE Futures Canada trading platform experienced a minor push to the downside during the week ended Sept. 9. Declines were influenced by the favourable weather for harvest operations, particularly in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and indications that some monstrous canola yields were being achieved. The larger-than-expected supply of canola in commercial and



Feast Of Protein In U.S. Spring Wheat Harvest

North Dakota wheat farmer Terry Weckerly applied extra fertilizer to his wheat this summer to coax more protein out of the crop. Flour mills and grain elevators were paying near-record premiums for high-protein wheat and he wanted a slice of it. The fertilizer worked too well. Weckerly and other farmers are harvesting a crop with

Crop Report – for Sep. 15, 2011

SOUTHWEST REGION There was little to no rainfall over the past week, which allowed producers to make good harvest progress. Cereal crops are 60 per cent complete with harvest south of Highway 2 more advanced compared to north of the highway. Yields to date are average to below average with average quality. Several producers are


A Majority For Single Desk

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) will fight Ottawa s plan to kill its single desk, a defiant CWB chair Allen Oberg said following a release of plebiscite results this week. Their message is loud and clear and cannot be ignored, Oberg, who farms at Forestburg, Alta., said during a news conference at a farm near

In Brief… – for Sep. 15, 2011

Dryness dims Argentine wheat outlook:Much of Argentina s wheat belt is getting dry, with frosts hampering the healthy development of 2011-12 crops in some northern areas, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said last week. Without moisture on surface soils, the outlook for wheat yields is gradually deteriorating in the western crop belt, the exchange said


Making The Case For More Research Investment

The Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) has donated $500,000 to a research endowment fund at the University of Saskatchewan aimed at making Canada s grain industry more competitive. The money will be spent over 15 years, with the first phase of research examining new policies to boost agricultural research investment in Canada. For our grain to

There Are Other Issues Than The CWB

Though you d hardly know it, the Canadian grain industry is facing issues other than the Canadian Wheat Board. For example, just what are the long-term prospects for Prairie wheat and barley exports, wheat board or not? That came to mind last week while reading Reuters reports on production and export activity out of the


Letters – for Sep. 8, 2011

Appreciate the coverage I extend words of appreciation for the August 25 Co-operator!The editorial highlighted good science that is well ahead of the curve when it detailed “ECO Farming.” Concerning the “new reporter,” Shannon VanRaes, please detail more of what you saw “growing up near Tillsonburg (and) “watching a way of agricultural life fade into

WCWGA Needs To Do Its Homework

It appears that the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association’s last-ditch attempt to make itself sound as if it knew something about the world grain trade as per its Aug.