Chuck Baresich, who owns an agricultural robotics business in Ontario, says controlling weeds with robots is probably best suited for high-value, horticultural crops in Canada. However, large-scale grain farmers could also use the technology if they think about it differently. “Let’s say my brother and me are growing 1,500 acres of corn,” said Baresich, who […] Read more
Robots may help grain farmers diversify
Tech could support labour-intensive higher-value crops
Think outside the agriculture box for labour, ag and tech leaders say
Agriculture in the Classroom is reaching non-farming students with inspiration for ag jobs, panelists say
Ag and tech leaders encouraged employers to think outside the agricultural box when looking to hire workers in order to expand the labour pool. “I’m one of the lucky ones,” said Brenna Mahoney, general manager of Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP). Mahoney entered the industry with no agriculture experience. She had training in human resources and […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat up off two-week low on Ukraine export uncertainty
Ukraine denies suspension of Black Sea export corridor
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose from a two-week low on Thursday on jitters about supply risks from the Ukraine war. Ukraine, a major grain exporter, has been using a Black Sea shipping channel to try to revive its seaborne shipments without Russian approval after Moscow in July quit a […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle ease on larger U.S. supply, weaker equities
Lean hog futures continue higher
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures eased on Thursday, with losses in equities and bigger-than-expected U.S. livestock supplies dragging down the markets. Traders kept an eye on Wall Street as weakness in stocks and concerns about the economy can limit consumer demand for pricey beef, analysts said. Stocks closed lower amid signs […] Read more
More acres expected for soybeans, canola, Rabobank says
RaboResearch arm sees Canada's exporters 'struggling' with margins
MarketsFarm — Farmers in the U.S. will seed more soybeans in 2024-25, with Canadian canola plantings also expected to rise to a lesser extent, according to a grains and oilseeds analyst with RaboResearch Food and AgriBusiness, a division of the Dutch multinational bank Rabobank at the firm’s Fall Harvest Outlook webinar. During the Wednesday webinar, […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: Arctic high slowly moving out
Issued Oct. 25, covering Oct. 25 to Nov. 1
As is often the case at this time of the year, the weather models got the general picture right, but the finer details were much to be desired. Usually, the models struggle with the forecast beyond two to five days out, but for much of this forecast period they struggled with the finer details on […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola pulling lower
Futures subject to 'financial gravity'
MarketsFarm — Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange kicked off the week of Oct. 23-27 with sharp losses, as the most heavily traded January contract busted through its support level of $700 per tonne. Among the reasons for canola’s steep fall, as David Derwin pointed out, were the better than average yields from this year’s […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Seasonal harvest pressure weighs on soy, corn
Soyoil/meal spread worth watching
MarketsFarm — Soybean and corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade may be hard pressed to move much higher in the short-term, as advancing harvest operations across the U.S. leave the market flush with supplies. However, solid underlying demand should remain supportive on the other side, according to an analyst. “Seasonal harvest pressure is […] Read more
Seaway strike backs up Ontario grain
Prairie grain may follow suit if strike backs up traffic via Thunder Bay, GFO warns
The nature of eastern Canadian grain logistics, and a strike by St. Lawrence Seaway workers who operate the system’s canals, will see cascading impacts across the system if the situation isn’t resolved quickly, according to Crosby Devitt, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario. Unifor workers in both Ontario and Quebec walked off the job Sunday […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME cattle, hogs rebound after recent losses
'Monday's washout was probably a bit overdone'
Chicago | Reuters — Cattle futures jumped at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday, bouncing off June lows hit this week on larger-than-expected U.S. supply numbers. Futures prices collapsed on Monday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a report issued after markets closed on Friday, said that producers placed more cattle than expected into […] Read more