Reading Time: < 1 minute Money-losing hog farmers in Manitoba, hurt by high feed costs, need between $130 million and $150 million in government loan guarantees to survive, the Prairie province’s biggest farm group said Monday. Severe drought in the United States has decimated crops, which has led to higher costs for feed grains and pushed North American hog farmers […] Read more
Manitoba’s KAP calls for nine-figure hog farm aid
U.S. soy posts biggest drop in a year
Reading Time: 3 minutes U.S. soybean futures tumbled by the daily trading limit on Monday, posting their biggest percentage drop in nearly one year, on selling sparked by anecdotal accounts of better-than-expected yields in the Midwest farm belt. Corn at the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) tumbled to a more than two-month low while wheat sank five per cent […] Read more
Maple Leaf sees slightly smaller hog supply ahead
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian hog supplies should tighten only modestly in 2013, one of the country’s biggest pork processors said on Thursday, even as farmers close their barns or struggle to stay afloat. A severe drought in the United States has decimated crops, which has led to higher costs for feed grains and pushed North American hog farmers […] Read more
Wind scatters Prairie canola, wheat crops
Reading Time: 2 minutes Strong winds sweeping across Saskatchewan and Alberta this week have scattered swaths of canola and wheat, causing significant yield losses. Winds blew across central and southern Alberta on Monday, rolling swaths of canola, wheat and barley into neighbouring fields and damaging crops that were still standing. "For canola especially, a lot of swaths have been […] Read more
Canadian corn, soy may help backfill a bit of U.S. demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Bigger Canadian production of corn and soybeans this year stands to backfill a small part of U.S. demand for those crops, after the Midwest drought slashed U.S. production. Canada is a minor producer of both crops on the global stage. The Midwest drought also extended to Ontario, curtailing potential production of corn and soybeans in […] Read more
Prairie frost coming, but little crop damage expected
Reading Time: 2 minutes Freezing temperatures look to arrive this week across parts of Western Canada, but steady harvest progress has left few of farmers’ crops vulnerable to damage, industry officials say. The first significant frost often hits the Prairie provinces by mid-September, but temperatures have only dipped slightly below freezing overnight so far, in isolated areas. Colder air […] Read more
High feed costs push Big Sky into receivership
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s second-biggest hog producer, Big Sky Farms, has entered receivership as the North American hog industry struggles under the bruising costs of animal feed. Big Sky Farms, based at Humboldt, Sask., produces roughly one million pigs annually and accounts for 40 per cent of Saskatchewan’s total hog production. Under receivership, an outside party controls a […] Read more
Prairie farmland values soar as growers expand
Reading Time: 3 minutes Western Canadian farmland is soaring in value, as farmers expand their lands and look to cash in on high crop prices, a report by real estate organization Re/Max said Monday. The price of high-end grain-producing land in southern Saskatchewan has jumped 20 per cent on average from last year to a range of $1,200 to […] Read more
Canada seen too dependent on cattle, beef sales to U.S.
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s dependence on cattle and beef sales to the United States leaves it at risk of becoming a net importer of beef from the U.S. as it buys back higher-value processed products, a report on the $6 billion industry said on Monday. Canada, the No. 5 beef exporter, ships 85 per cent of its beef […] Read more
Vancouver miner, Indian chem firm consider potash j.v.
Reading Time: 2 minutes Western Potash, a junior mining company looking for outside capital to help build a potash mine in Western Canada, said Wednesday that it was talking about a joint venture with India’s Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, among others. Western Potash plans to build its Milestone mine, southeast of Regina, by 2016 and eventually produce 2.8 million […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
