Alberta Agriculture's biweekly crop report (full report alongside) with conditions to July 14 says that virtually all areas of the province received rain during the previous two weeks, and that overall, soil moisture reserves in the province are adequate to excessive. Provincially, about 83 per cent of spring cereals are in good to excellent condition.[...]
Plenty of moisture in most of Alberta: crop report
Relentless heat continues in U.S.
Mother Nature is hell this week, especially for American farmers and ranchers. A heat wave has descended on U.S. cropland and pastures, with no relief expected until the weekend. The hot weather was stressing the pollinating corn crop, and putting grasslands and cattle under duress. Temperatures should cool by the weekend, an agricultural meteorologist forecast […] Read more
Manitoba crop report: things turn hot and dry
After several months of cool wet weather, Manitoba has turned hot and dry, conditions which are reflected in Manitoba Agriculture's weekly crop report. Conditions vary throughout the province, but there are some concerns about heat stress depending on seeding date and crop staging. However haying conditions are generally favourable.Because of a publication ban in advance[...]
No future for pork belly futures
Chicago's iconic pork belly market has closed after 50 years of being the subject of jokes for movies and TV shows and satisfying Americans' hunger for bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches.The Chicago Mercantile Exchange shut down the frozen pork belly futures market at the end of business on Friday, July 15.The closing had been expected. Trading in pork[...]
Five winter wheat classes reclassified Aug. 1
If you still have stocks of certain winter wheat varieties, you may want to deliver them by the end of this month. The Canadian Grain Commission has reminded grain producers and industry stakeholders that effective August 1, 2013, the following wheat varieties will be moved from the Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) class to the[...]
CWB delays year-end news conference
The Canadian Wheat Board has postponed its annual crop-year-end news conference by one month to late August, the latest it has ever been held, with grains developing more slowly than usual, a board spokeswoman said on Monday. The news conference normally occurs around the end of the crop marketing year on July 31 and includes […] Read more
Stampede backed for new ag hall
A new agricultural event centre and renewal of existing ag facilities at Calgary's Stampede Park will get $25 million in provincial funding. The new facility, the Agrium Western Event Centre, is expected to "complement the existing facility and triple capacity and programming at the site" when it's completed in 2014, the Alberta government said in[...]
CWB working on open-market model: MCO
The Canadian Wheat Board is already working on a model for converting the single-desk seller of western barley and wheat into an open-market grain company, the Manitoba Co-operator reports. But for this “new entity” to survive the federal government must make major concessions, including assuming CWB employees’ pension liability, CWB chair Allen Oberg said in […] Read more
Dairy Farmers name new president
A Vancouver Island dairyman has been picked to replace Jacques Laforge as president of Dairy Farmers of Canada. Wally Smith, who farms at Chemainus, B.C., south of Nanaimo, was elected Wednesday by delegates at the association's annual meeting in Winnipeg. Smith, who owns MariaHolme Farms, milks 75 cows and grows his own corn and forage,[...]
Local food favoured, but not if it costs more: survey
A survey backed by Canada's federal farm lender finds most Canadian consumers are all for buying locally-grown or -produced food, but fewer than half of those would pay more for it. The survey, run in mid-March for Farm Credit Canada (FCC) using a sample of 2,015 Canadians from a panel convened by pollster Angus Reid,[...]
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