Monday, February 8, 2010
Reining in the Canadian Wheat Board
Rolf Penner – The National post gets it right this morning. The CWB’s directors may wish to think we live in some kind of crazy Chinese democracy that’s run by elected bureaucrats or special interest groups but that’s never been the case.
Article – When the Supreme Court declined recently to consider the case of Canadian Wheat Board v. Attorney General of Canada, it brought a welcome end to a long, rancorous debate over the question of who, ultimately, has authority over the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB). The answer, we can now be certain, is that the agency remains, as Ottawa has always considered it, a creature of government, answerable to our country’s elected representatives. This is how it should be. (more…)
No tags for this post.GST Hike Like Another Tiger Woods Girlfriend: Bad Idea
HS: Wow – Good going Kevin. You are absolutely right. Our Feds need to make sure we cut spending, not increase the income so they can spend more. Tell me Kevin, why do I see dozens of releases from the Feds to every thing and everybody for this and for that giving away monies like drunken sailors.
Monday, February 8th, 2010 — Kevin Gaudet, Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation – Kudos to Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy for having let the tax-hike genie out the bottle. Recently, he went on national TV and speculated that Canadians would accept a hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Mr. Kennedy deserves credit for putting this policy proposal in the window. It is only through such open and honest debate that such a poor idea can be thoroughly and resoundingly debunked and rejected. (more…)
No tags for this post.The Inuit are here for you, G7, so listen up – The Globe and Mail
Les Routledge – ...and so are deer.
Last updated on Saturday, Feb. 06, 2010 - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has taken some criticism for announcing that finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven will meet in the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit this week. Critics described the location as a “frostbitten outpost,” creating a “logistical nightmare” of potential blizzards, poor infrastructure and unreliable phone and Internet service. [ more...]
No tags for this post.Will it be bullish or bearish??
Chicago Mercantile Exchange – All eyes will be on USDA’s monthly Crop Report and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) when they are released at 8:30 EST today. If you missed them, the February 5 edition of DLR contained the results of both the Dow Jones and Bloomberg surveys of industry analysts. We think you are likely to hear two quite different arguments about corn and soybean markets, regardless of what the report says — because both arguments have merit regardless of what the report says. (more…)
No tags for this post.Saturday, February 6, 2010
CBC Commentary – Land prices brought back down to earth
By Norman Dunn February 01, 2010 Farmland prices have reached astronomical levels in recent years. But farmers are now seeing the other side of the coin. In Britain, the average price of farmland rose 21% in 2008 alone to reach an average price of $7,750 (Cdn) per acre. And Ireland now has the highest farmland prices in Europe. Land rarely comes on the market there and so in 2008 even fairly plain grass and potato land was selling at four times the British level, averaging $32,300 per acre. (more…)
No tags for this post.Part 1 – Mayo Schmidt – The Business of Viterra
HS: Mayo Schmidt has been lucky, and from the little I know him by meeting hims several times, interviewing him on occasions, he’d admit most likely that timing, good fortune, due diligence and good management have all played a part in putting Viterra right at the top. It was not that long ago when penny stocks was all that was left of the previous Saskatchewan Wheat Pool from turning it into a trash heap. Good for you Mr. Schmidt I look forward to these interview by my friend Shawn Haney. (more…)
No tags for this post.Curtail land prices?
Foreign Aid
Friday, February 5, 2010
Duck Pasture or Grain land?
HS: Here John Duvenaud makes a point of how Americans idled the more marginal land years ago to lower the chronic oversupply of grain. The low and behold the government allowed them to take some back and start producing grain. Duvenaud’s point is that this marginal land can’t compete and will lose money growing grain. My question is what happens when Americans really start looking for more land to grow corn to supply the expanded ethanol market? Will more of this land come up for grain production, or what do you think?
Opinion derived from traders on the ICI Futures Canada Exchange by John Duvenaud, publisher of Wild Oats newsletter.
CRP is an intelligent and effective USDA program that pays American farmers to turn marginal farmland into duck pasture. It was put in place to lower the chronic oversupply of grain. (more…)
No tags for this post.The $31.70 per cow problem needs to be addressed
HS: Wow, Kevin right spot on, on this one. I hate government intervention, but you make a good case for this one because the cattle guys are hurting every bit as much as the hog producers, and it appears there is no other relief in sight. Policies and knee-jerk reactions have distorted this industry that was once so free-wheeling and independent. This kind of comment should drive our R-Calf people up the WTO wall. They think we already subsidize our indsutry beyond the realm of reality.
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The $31.70 per cow problem needs to be addressed
Many people in the cattle business love to hate the big packing companies. For that reason, it’s difficult to garner support for paying compensation to the packers for the extra costs they incur when they slaughter cattle over thirty months of age. It costs an estimated $31.70 more to slaughter an older animal in Canada as compared to the U.S. This is due to the more stringent Canadian rules for disposing of Specified Risk Materials. (more…)
No tags for this post.Thursday, February 4, 2010
Swine Industry Adjusts to U.S. COOL
Hogs Stay home
HS: One of the things Steve Meyer says in this article is the fact M-Cool Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling in the United States is a law of the land and only the U.S. Congress can change it. The industry is adjusting, but exports of market hogs from Canada to the U.S. dropped by 60 percent plus in 2009 over 2008, while feeder pigs dropped 25 percent. Cool is a fact of life, live with it he says. Well I hate to say I told you so, but back four years ago on CJOB radio I told then morning host Larry Updike that COOL would devastate the Canadian industry. At that time, there were those who scoffed, even laughed and challenged me on that statement. The industry thought, at some within it, it would just right itself. The marketplace would absorb the hiccup, and all would be well down on the farm. Yes, while not righting itself, the industry is adjusting according to Steve Meyer.
By Harry Siemens / Farmscape
Dr. Steve Meyer of Paragon Economics says the price differential in the U.S. between Canadian and American sourced pigs is shrinking as the swine industry adjusts to U.S. Mandatory Country of Origin labelling.
“The adjustments to M-COOL are still ongoing to a varying degree,” said Meyer. “Canada has reduced the amount of pigs it sends to the USA; conversely the USA has reduced the number of pigs it buys from Canada.” (more…)
No tags for this post.Successful bid after three tries
Yes, I wrote this story for the Prairie Hog Country and why would I make further comment you may ask. Well the man in this story, Don Esler of Pilot Mound, MB most likely has one of the best scenarios when it comes to the current predicament that most hog producers face. He decided in August, before the feds came out with this weird and wacky outbidding the neighbour system. When Don realized April was the cut-off period, he decided to play the game, with really nothing at stake. In August, he had decided to take his losses of the last two to three years, and take into consideration the good years too, and call it a day for his hog production. He played the game well an d will now get enough money to cover the losses of the last two years, decide what to do with his hog facilities, and move onto another chapter. Very much a best-case scenario, would you not agree?
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Successful bid after three tries by Harry Siemens
It took Don Esler of Pilot Mound, MB three tries to collect under the federal government’s Hog Farm Transition Program with a bid of just under 800 dollars per animal unit on 131 animals units.
“I did put in the lower bid and I was accepted this time,” said Esler from his farm home near Pilot Mound, MB. (more…)
No tags for this post.Meatingplace.com – Fire up the corn planter, EPA opens ethanol floodgate
Roll out the corn planters says King Obama
HS: This is good news for the corn producer, not so good for the livestock guy and those countries that use corn as their staple diet. There will be all kinds of people shouting across the paths screaming for this and for that, but as many have said, to use corn as a means to help secure the energy requirements for the United States makes me nervous, especially under this somewhat crazy administration. What do you think? Should the USA replace foreign fuel requirements with food and feed corn, thereby forcing the farmers to ‘crank up the corn planters’ as this article says?
Fire up the corn planter, EPA opens ethanol floodgate By Rita Jane Gabbett on 2/4/2010
President Obama on Wednesday announced a series of steps to enhance American energy independence, including an EPA final rule that will pave the way for more corn-based ethanol production.
EPA’s final rule Renewable Fuel Standard mandates 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2022, compared to last year’s 11.1 billion gallons. The rule mandates that by 2022, advanced biofuels would account for 21 billion of the 36 billion gallons total, leaving 15 billion gallons available for biofuels such as corn-based ethanol.
According to the American Meat Institute, the EPA decision reverses previous EPA studies that found corn-based ethanol would fail to meet the 20 percent threshold in greenhouse gas reductions, due to land -use issues. This would have limited its future use as a renewable fuel. [ more....]
No tags for this post.Buy America deal in the works
HS: Les raises a very good point in his third paragraph. He raises the issue of the Americans stimulating exports in the farm sector with some nasty export subsidies. This King Obama admin will go to all lengths and stop at nothing to get its way. Yes Les Canada needs to get ready, get on the offensive and start preparing to slap on some kind of artificial trade barrier, just in case. Please stay tuned.
I know trade wars only hurt the traders so we need to work these things out before the actual trade war starts. Maybe Harper keeps this in the forefront and not the back burner.
Les Routledge – I wonder if Harper’s use of the powers under the investment Canada Act to fine investors in Canadian steel plants that idled capacity in Canada has had any influence on the Whitehouse?
The next step in my mind is to look at putting government support behind building a heavy oil and natural gas export line to Prince Rupert to counter-balance efforts in the USA to penalize Canadian production of petroleum due to greenhouse gas emissions. It is time for Canada to play the Canadian card on that file. (more…)
No tags for this post.Water and Feed Availability Expected to Determine Canada’s Role in Pork Production
By Harry Siemens - A Toronto based agri-food consultant suggests the availability of land and water will be among the key factors that will determine Canada’s future role in the global pork industry. Ted Bilyea, with Ted Bilyea and Associates discussed the topic ‘Pig Industry Challenges for the Next 25 Years’ at the 2010 Manitoba Swine Seminar in Winnipeg, MB in early February. (more…)
No tags for this post.Baby boomers are not like their parents
HS: Yes Kevin your speaker is absolutely right. The Baby boomers are not like their parents, yet I wish in some cases I was much more like my parents. My father was an innovator, one who farmed 1000 acres back in 1960, and that did not include pasture. We only had one Jersey cow to give rich cream and abundant milk and a few pigs for sausage and ribs for the year, often butchered in a ‘Pig Killing Bee.’ with a handful of neighbours. (more…)
No tags for this post.Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Ignoring the real issue with the Canadian Wheat Board
Update – By Alex Binkley
The last two weeks have produced a couple of judicial decisions that may finally set the stage for some rational discussions about the future of the Canadian Wheat Board. The venerable Winnipeg-based institution has the mandate from the federal government to sell the wheat and barley of Prairie farmers, whether they like it or not. In recent years, those who don’t like it have become increasingly restive and vocal in their desire to get out from under the CWB’s heavy hand and make their own decisions on marketing their grain. Those actions have inspired the Board’s defenders to seek every possible avenue to thwart them and protect the monopoly. (more…)
No tags for this post.For Harper, silence is golden at Wheat Board
Court sides with Prime Minister on ‘gag order’ Kevin Libin, National Post
Stephen Harper has managed to silence one of the most vocal and activist groups battling against his plan to give prairie farmers the right to opt out of selling their wheat and barley through the wheat board. Namely, the Canadian Wheat Board itself.
The board’s directors had, since the Tories’ election, been running a relentless campaign to protect their “single-desk” marketing monopoly. They regularly funded studies and surveys that invariably concluded the CWB’s model was the most profitable, most popular manner for grain marketing; when Ottawa held a plebiscite in 2007 that resulted in a majority of barley farmers voting for marketing choice, the directors launched a publicity campaign undermining it as rigged and irrelevant; they urged farmers to write the agriculture minister in protest. (more…)
Governments of Canada and Saskatchewan Support PAMI’s National Accreditation Application
February 01, 2010
Humboldt, Saskatchewan - The Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) has achieved its objective of securing national Standards Council of Canada (SCC) accreditation for its equipment testing facilities in Humboldt with support from the federal and provincial governments. (more…)
No tags for this post.Winter precip still below normal
Kevin Hursh - One big snowstorm hasn’t been enough to bring winter precipitation back up to normal. The system that came through the province around January 23 dropped a lot of snow over a wide region, but there wasn’t much base for it to build on. For the month of January, precipitation maps show northeast and east central Saskatchewan recorded above normal precipitation. (more…)
No tags for this post.Cereal prices are the lowest in years
Kevin Hursh - With the latest drop in the Pool Return Outlook for durum, the price is now projected to be the lowest in five years. The durum PRO dropped by as much as $15 a tonne, leaving the expected Saskatchewan farm gate price at around $4.00 a bushel for No. 1 durum with 12.5 per cent protein. (more…)
No tags for this post.A Powerful Voice For Ontario Farmers
Size does matter, especially when you’re trying to get the attention of government.
At least that’s the opinion of Barry Senft, the CEO for the new Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO). Senft was in Chatham-Kent Thursday to speak to the local chapter of the GFO, and said the 28,000-member provincial organization should be large enough now to get the attention of the government. (more…)
No tags for this post.Monday, February 1, 2010
GM WHEAT COULD HAMMER U.S. PRICES 01/29/10
From Farms.com A new report is warning of a catastrophic drop in wheat prices if genetically modified wheat is introduced to the U.S. The report – commissioned by the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) and released yesterday – concludes that wheat buyers in Europe, Japan, and other Asian countries are likely to switch to GM-free wheat from other countries if GM wheat is introduced in the U.S. As a result, the price of U.S. hard red spring wheat would fall 40%, and the price of durum wheat would drop 57%. (more…)
No tags for this post.Real Agriculture.com – NCBA10 – Canada’s WTO Challenge of COOL with John Masswohl
Canada and Mexico have taken the issue of country of origin labelling (COOL) to the World Trade Organization (WTO). We are basically one year into the implementation of COOL and the financial impact is severe. The impact on the Canada and Mexico livestock markets has been very hurtful.
The interesting thing that I found at the NCBA convention is that there was not much love from the Americans for COOL either. One begins to wonder how we ended up with legislation that the US domestic industry and it’s trading partners do not want.
Real Agriculture.com – Beef Market Update
Real Agriculture.com
NCBA10 – Beef Market Update – Anne Dunford Wraps Up the NCBA 2010 ConventionBy most accounts the 2010 NCBA convention in San Antonio was a huge success. This was my first NCBA meeting so it is fitting that we talked to Anne Dunford a wily veteran of the NCBA festivities. Anne wrapped up the week and talked about what she thought were the major things to be pulled out the convention week. There was a lot of talk about the potential for increased US beef exports due to the lower US dollar, affects of country of origin labelling, the change to the NCBA membership fee structure, and the potential for a recovery for the US economy.After being at the NCBA I would have to say that the US cattlemen seem more optimistic than in Canada. There seemed to be a feeling of “the worst is behind us” for the US cattle ranchers and feeders. The reality is that if the recession doesn’t contract resulting in increased US exports and a US domestic increase in middle meat demand, the US cattlemen will have nothing to brag about financially in comparison to his Canadian peers.
I am not suggesting that I support government action. Instead, if they feel entitled to intervene in the price ...