Reading Time: 8 minutes It isn’t only agriculture. China has become the world’s largest market for an incredibly long list of commodities. Consider the manufacturing industry, for example, where the Chinese generate roughly half of global demand — they use 54 per cent of global aluminum production, 50 per cent of nickel, 48 per cent of copper and 46 […] Read more
2016 could be a ‘battleground year’ for commodity prices
A ‘battleground year’ is how analyst Errol Anderson sees 2016. Prices will be profitable… sometimes…but success will only come to producers who rein in their emotions
U.S. grains: Wheat drops on improving crop conditions, big stocks
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. wheat futures fell more than two per cent on Tuesday, giving up all the prior session’s gains, as a further improvement in the condition of the U.S. winter crop placed attention back on ample global supply of the staple cereal. Corn prices eased, following wheat lower and further pressured by […] Read more
A year for corn farmers to manage risk
It’s going to take skill to navigate your way to healthy prices in a year when volatile currency markets will make our price swings even wilder
Reading Time: 5 minutes Corn farmers continue to be bedevilled by low corn futures prices. In Ontario just over a year ago, for instance, the December 2015 corn futures price on August 4, 2014 closed at $4.15 per bushel. This year on August 5, the December 2015 corn futures price closed at $3.78. In the history of agriculture, this […] Read more
Hold on tight. The global economy is a mess
Not even Errol Anderson knows where the pieces will all fall. What’s a farmer to do?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Buckle up. Commodity markets look to be in for a wild ride. China is experiencing its first major setback since its market liberalization began. It generated 40 per cent of global economic growth last year, so this is troubling. If its engine is faltering, everyone is going to feel it. Market analyst Errol Anderson tells […] Read more
The China (economic) factor and Canadian agriculture
Does China’s economic slowdown have to be bad news for Canada’s farmers? We ask Errol Anderson, does he see hope in the year ahead?
Reading Time: 6 minutes For the first instalment in our five-part series this fall and winter, we sat down with Calgary-based grain market adviser and regular Country Guide contributor Errol Anderson for his insights into what to look for in markets this year. The billion-dollar question, Anderson says, is what will happen in China. Other issues are important too, […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans slide as concern about Chinese growth persists
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. soybean prices dropped on Wednesday on concern that interest rate cuts in China may not be enough to stimulate growth in the key importer. Corn slipped on technical selling, and Chicago wheat lost ground on concerns about export competition as the dollar rose, traders said. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) November soybeans […] Read more
U.S. grains: China woes push soy to six-year low, soyoil to nine-year low
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures dropped to their lowest levels in over six years on Monday and soyoil touched a nine-year low as concerns about China’s faltering economy fuelled selloffs in commodities and equities markets. Broad selling pressured markets early as investors rushed for the exits after stock prices in China, the world’s […] Read more
Megatrends versus Canada’s farms
Can your farm thrive over the next decade?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Global forces are transforming agriculture in this country. It barely takes a second for any farmer to rattle off a list, starting with world population that the UN says will jump by another billion over the next decade and reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Or smartphones that link us to the world from our tractor […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soy slip on improved U.S. weather, Greece jitters
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. corn and soybean futures dropped on Monday as lighter-than-expected U.S. rainfall eased fears about soggy Midwest crops while worries over Greece and China led investors to shun many commodity markets. Corn prices pulled back from 2015 highs notched last week after heavy Midwest rains raised crop concerns and following a […] Read more
Our failing price system for grain
Many growers feel a corrupted basis is underpaying them for commodities
Reading Time: 7 minutes Farmers need to be asking tough questions about how our grain is priced, and we must not be satisfied without full answers. Farmers continue to be confounded by “basis.” Their complaints include the volatility in basis as well as a lack of transparency in how basis is calculated. As well, many farmers believe that the […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
