Brandon and Calgary set to host more interesting meetings than Saskatoon
For those seeking top agriculture-related speakers each January, Saskatoon used to be the leading prairie location. Gradually, that distinction has been lost to events in the neighboring provinces. For years, Saskatoon hosted Crop Production Week with big and small crop commissions holding annual meetings along with speaker programs. The meetings coincided with the Western Canadian …
Equipment costs escalate
Conventional wisdom tells us that farm equipment is a depreciating asset. As soon as you buy it, the value starts declining. These days, however, values are in many cases defying gravity. Lots of people follow farm equipment values more closely than I do, but the point was brought home to me recently as a bid …
Farming not as dismal as NFU report portrays
“Across Canada, farmers are experiencing declining mental health,” says a report just released by the National Farmers Union. The report claims there’s a farmer mental health crisis in this country and all the things the NFU thinks are wrong in agriculture need to be fixed so that farmers no longer have too much stress. The …
Lentils and politics
With relations between Canada and India at a new low, it’s an uneasy time for lentil exporters. So far, allegations by Canada have led to the expulsion of diplomats by both countries and the suspension of visa services for Canadians wanting to travel to India. Whether the political tension spills over into the trade arena …
Profitability of cattle unlikely to spur expansion
Previously unimaginable, 550 to 600-pound steer calves seem destined to fetch over $2,000 each during the fall calf run. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, this newfound profitability in the beef sector is unlikely to reverse the steady erosion of cattle numbers in Western Canada. Even with heifer calf prices somewhat lower than steers, selling …
Combine repair adventures
You’d think that with such a spindly crop, harvest would be fast and easy. Instead, for me at least, it’s been a season of fix and repair daily, if not hourly. We got a new to us combine late last fall and we kept the better of our two much older combines. What could go …