The ratio of workers to retirees in Canada has historically been around 5 to 1, however it’s trending toward 2 to 1 in the next few decades. The implications this will have for government and the labour market was the topic of Andrew Coyne’s talk at the Growing the Agri-Workforce Summit, as ag industry people from… Read More
Category: Markets
Grains ended this week in the green, with soybeans leading the way at almost 1.5% higher for the week, and nearly 6% higher for the month of March. Canola is a close second, up over 1% for the week and over 5% so far in March. Wheat futures aren’t far behind, after seeing a slight push earlier in the… Read More
Evidence is adding up to show Western Canada really did grow a big canola crop last year, despite the drought. A combination of ample supplies, expanded crush capacity and the lower Canadian dollar are driving a rapid pace in canola consumption this year, both domestically and through exports. Canadian canola crush is up 12 percent from last… Read More
A lot of focus in the market last week was on the wheat market as warm weather from Kiev to Kansas is pushing fall-seeded crops out of dormancy much earlier than usual. After last week’s best weekly gain for wheat since October, investors’ focus will now turn to weather forecasts and the stocks and acreage… Read More
As we predicted in last week’s Friday column, grains started to pick up some steam in the second week of March, as the monthly WASDE report from the USDA was published. Global ending stocks were lowered a bit but the better catalyst for the move was the grains complex, which finally started to track oil’s move to the upside like… Read More
Grains started the month of March fairly hot, trying to rebound from its end of February, with more liquidity being added to the market and more bulls coming to the table on weather concerns. Nonetheless, given the size of the short position that managed money is holding on the futures board, there are some fundamentals… Read More
Satellites are helping depict a clearer picture (literally) of what Canadian farmers grow each year. Accurately predicting and measuring production of each crop grown in Canada has been an ongoing quest for the grain industry and government agencies since farming began in North America. Or at least since the start of the 20th century when E.Cora… Read More
While the number of CWRS wheat acres on the prairies is expected to drop by around 1.5 million, the trend toward more growing more high-yielding wheat varieties will continue, according to the general manager of FarmLink Marketing Solutions. Meanwhile, pea and lentil acres are expected to rise dramatically (surprise!), but seed supply will be a… Read More
Grains continued to trade sideways to lower through the end of February as the data points that keep coming do not support a reversal of the bearish market fundamentals. The market is taking into account more crop conditions from Europe and South America, while adjusting for the new forecasts for U.S. grain supply, demand, and… Read More
Grains this morning were able to make some gains on short-covering and more weather headlines scaring the bears away. Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. says that the longer it takes for El Nino to dissipate, the likelier that we’ll see a drier spring in western areas of the Canadian Prairies. Conversely, Lerner suggested that… Read More