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The owners of RJ Game Farm located near Fairlight in southeastern Saskatchewan fear for the health of their 1400 bison and the future of their operation. The fear comes from a neighbouring farm that has moved 300 sheep onto land not far from the bison. Sheep are considered natural hosts for a virus called MCF, …

For many years, Canada and other nations have invested time and energy into the multilateral negotiations of the World Trade Organization. Despite optimistic proclamations by free trade advocates, the WTO has gone nowhere for years. While the WTO slips into obscurity, bilateral trade agreements are providing tangible benefits for Canadian agriculture. The most recent example …

A brand new type of revenue insurance called the Production Cost Solution Program is being offered to grain farmers this spring. If it proves itself, it may decrease the need for Crop Insurance and hail insurance. The company behind the offering is Global Ag Risk Solutions of Moose Jaw. The founders are financial planner Grant …

The Pool Return Outlooks for wheat and durum have seen another significant increase. After deducting average Saskatchewan freight and handling, No. 1 CWRS wheat with 12.5 per cent protein is now expected to have a price of $6.94 a bushel.  This surpasses the $6.56 a bushel that was the final price in 2008-09, but it’s …

The Canadian Grain Commission has been holding User Fee Consultations across the country. Sessions were held this week in Saskatoon and Regina. The commission’s services are supposed to be run on a cost recovery basis, but there has been no increase to most of the fees since 1991. The fee revenue now accounts for only …

The price of Canadian durum looks particularly bad right now as compared to what American farmers are being paid. Elevators in Montana and North Dakota are posting cash bids as high as $10 a bushel for top grade durum. Here in Saskatchewan, the expected price for high protein No. 1 durum is only about $6.50 …

Many analysts say world grain stocks are so low that strong prices are likely for the next two, three or even five years. If world demand doesn’t get side-swiped by another severe economic downturn, the years ahead could be a great time to be a farmer. However, not all the consequences will be positive. If …

The precipitation maps published by Agriculture Canada are widely used, but here’s a case that makes you wonder about the accuracy. Since the end of October, the maps show that Regina has had normal to a bit below normal precipitation. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s National Agroclimate Information Service is also cited as the source for …

Well-known Saskatchewan cattleman, Roy Rutledge who has long run the Assiniboia Livestock Auction spoke yesterday in Edmonton to a meeting of Ag Service Boards. Roy has some definite opinions on cattle traceability and what he says makes a lot of sense. We’re developing a high-priced livestock traceability system based upon individual cattle ID that uses …

Cattle prices have started 2011 with a bang. Sandy Russell of Spring Creek Consulting details the price rise in her latest newsletter. Fed steer prices in Western Canada have increased to around a dollar a pound. Last year at this time they were under 80 cents. Steer calves in the 500 to 600 pound weight …

What does last year’s flooding mean to soil nitrogen levels? Viterra did a bunch of soil sampling in the fall to compare flooded versus non-flooded parts of fields and they’ve summarized the data to come up with some conclusions. On fields where a crop was seeded and some of the crop was subsequently flooded out, …

What’s your risk tolerance? Given the choice between a deferred delivery contract and a contract with an Act of God clause how much money would you forego to get the Act of God protection? Here’s a specific example. There are new crop canaryseed deferred delivery contracts available at 25 cents a pound and there are …