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It’s rare to see financial optimism in both the grain and cattle sectors. It would seem like a great time to buy more land or buy more cows, except that when everyone else has the same mindset, it becomes more expensive and therefore more risky. The famous quote by financial tycoon Warren Buffet comes to …

The general manager of the Christian Farmers of Ontario, John Clement, writes a regular commentary. His latest is an interesting piece of how farm policy increasingly needs to pay attention to the “missing middle.” There are a growing number of small producers who have less than $100,000 in annual gross sales. Some of these producers …

Sulfentrazone is now registered for flax, field peas and sunflowers. The new label should be available for the 2011 growing season. The product has been available the past couple of years for use on chickpeas. It’s been registered for various crops in the U.S. for ages. Down there is goes by the name Spartan. Up …

Christmastime is family time, but scratch the surface and many farm family situations are not nearly as happy as they appear. Succession planning can be one of the biggest sources of friction. If you want your kids to remain friends and to have all the cousins know each other, get your succession plan right. For …

  Fertilizer prices have been rising, but glyphosate herbicide has dropped like a rock. The Economics and Competitiveness Division of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development in partnership with Wild Rose Agricultural Producers conduct a monthly survey on a wide range of farm input costs in that province. Unfortunately, no similar farm input survey information is …

Sandy Russell of Spring Creek Land & Cattle Consulting says bred cow prices were considerably stronger in 2010 and she is predicting even stronger prices in the year ahead. In her weekly newsletter called The Bottom Line, Russell says eventually the North American beef herd will stop its contraction and head the other way. One …

Malting barley supplies in Western Canada are limited due to the bad harvest. Meanwhile, continuous rains in Eastern Australia over the past three weeks have cut the Aussie supply of malting barley. So why is the Pool Return Outlook for malting barley continuing to drop? Shouldn’t the price be rising? In the latest PRO released …

Toby Torkelson of Rayglen Commodities in Saskatoon has put together a full spreadsheet on expected revenue, expenses and returns for various 2011 crop choices. The spreadsheet does an excellent job of detailing both variable and overhead expenses for 23 different crops. It’s based on cropping conditions in the dark brown soil zone where a wide …

Most, but not all grain prices are much higher than a year ago at this time. On its website, if you know where to look, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture publishes a market trends report that compares current prices with prices a year ago. At this time last year, the flax market was plagued by …

According to the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, the Canadian Wheat Board election is flawed. Retired and hobby farmers skew the election results say the Wheat Growers. On the other hand, they say bona fide farmers have rejected the election process. It smacks a bit of sour grapes, but the Wheat Growers do have some …

Canadian Wheat Board election results were announced yesterday (Sunday). Directors were up for election in the odd-numbered districts. The overall ballot response rate was just 41.3 per cent. As of last night, the actual vote counts had not been released. In District 1, incumbent Henry Vos of Fairview, Alberta was returned for a second term. …

“He can’t see the forest for all the trees.” It’s an old saying, but it often applies to agriculture. We sometimes make this mistake when we try to access grain markets. We focus on one factor rather than the big picture. That’s happening with the debate over canola acres. Some observers are predicting a big …