Reading Time: 2 minutes It looks like the overall weather pattern is going to undergo another shift. After nearly two weeks of unseasonably cool and unsettled weather over the eastern half of the Prairies, with near-average conditions over the west, it looks like more typically summer weather will move back in. The massive area of low pressure that spun […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: Summer heat to build back in
Issued July 19, covering July 19 to 26
At Ag in Motion: Soybean proponents still eye western expansion
Crop seen as a good add to rotations -- if conditions are right
Reading Time: 3 minutes While canola is king of the Canadian oilseed market, the same can be said of soybeans in the United States. However, the big pulse crop south of the border has made inroads in the western provinces. Manitoba has seen the biggest growth in soybean acres with well over a million planted annually in recent years, […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market continues climb
Futures spur larger feedlots to lock in ownership
Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, quality yearling packages traded $6-$10/cwt higher. In some cases, prices were up as much as $12/cwt. Calf markets were relatively unchanged although the market was hard to defined due to limited volumes. Pastures are drying up in Saskatchewan and certain area of eastern Alberta. Yearlings from these regions are coming on […] Read more
Prairie Forecast Update: Low pushes southeast instead
Reading Time: < 1 minute The area of low pressure that was predicted to develop over central Alberta on Monday, July 17th still looks on track to develop. This will mean clouds and showers over north-central regions of Alberta late on Monday and into early Tuesday. There may be some thunderstorms overnight Monday over south-central regions. This low was originally […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Dryness helps push up grain prices
Market seen shifting between 'no need' and 'giant need'
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — As dry conditions continued to take root across much of the Canadian Prairies, feed grain prices have for the most part been climbing, according to Susanne Leclerc of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton. “The futures are coming up on quite a few commodities, so the prices have been coming up slightly,” Leclerc said […] Read more
Weather outlook not great for Prairie crops
U.S. northern Plains in a similar boat
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Just when crops across the Canadian Prairies need rain, the outlook to the end of July according to Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. pointed to conditions getting hotter and drier. “It does not look really good at the moment. We are going to see below normal rainfall and warmer than normal temperatures […] Read more
Prairie Forecast: Large Hudson Bay low dominates
Forecast issued July 12, covering July 12-19
Reading Time: 3 minutes As the weather models correctly predicted, a large and extremely strong area of low pressure formed over Hudson Bay during the last forecast period, bringing the expected cool and unsettled weather to the eastern half of the Prairies. Over the western half of the Prairies a weak upper-level ridging brought, for the most part, sunny […] Read more
Alberta lifts feeder loan guarantee limit
Amendment boosts individual limit by 50 per cent
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta has boosted the limit on the size of loan available under its Feeder Associations Loan Guarantee program, aiming to help producers keep up against rising livestock prices. An order in council amending the provincial Feeder Associations Guarantee Regulation was approved Monday, raising that program’s individual and joint-membership loan limit to $3 million, from $2 […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market consolidates at historical highs
Higher borrowing costs offset lower feed prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending Saturday, western Canadian yearling steer prices were quoted $2-$4 higher; yearling heifers traded $2 higher to $5 lower. Calves were relatively unchanged although volumes were limited. Larger groups of quality genetics were well bid while second tier cattle were marginally discounted off the highs. Some ranches are liquidating yearlings about one […] Read more
Prairie cash wheat: Weather, rising futures lift bids
Dry weather persisted for much of Prairies
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Dry weather for most of the Prairies, as well as rising wheat prices in the U.S., lifted western Canadian wheat bids, some to more than $400 per tonne, for the week ended July 6. With the exception of thunderstorms and sporadic precipitation in Alberta, dryness persisted across much of the Prairies, albeit with […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
