Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Global commodity trader Cargill on Wednesday said it turned in a quarterly net profit, boosted by special gains that offset poor results from trading and oilseed processing. Revenue for the privately held company declined for the eighth straight quarter. Minnesota-based Cargill reported net income of $15 million for the fourth quarter ended May […] Read more
Cargill posts net profit on special gains; revenue down
Lower feed costs weigh on supply-managed goods
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– Relatively soft feed grain prices over the past year mean producers of supply-managed commodities, such as milk and eggs, have also received lower prices for their products. Such is the interpretation of industry participants accounting for declines in the latest Farm Price Index data released by Statistics Canada. The livestock and animal […] Read more
What is wheat basis anyway?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Like a lever pulling open a chute, basis makes grain flow. Or it shuts it off. Grain buyers use basis to attract grain when they need it. If they offer a higher local cash price, they’re in fact offering a stronger basis than other buyers in the area. A weak basis means the cash price […] 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
Cargill profit surges as lower grain prices spur demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Replenished grain supplies following a bumper North American harvest bolstered global commodities trader Cargill’s bottom line in its latest quarter as lower prices lifted demand for crops and padded margins on meat sales. Privately-held Cargill, based in Minnesota, reported net earnings of $784 million for the second quarter ended Nov. 30, up 41 […] Read more
Are the current low grain prices a challenge, or opportunity?
The irony is, it’s often easier to expand in tough times
Reading Time: 7 minutes It felt like it was going to be different this time. In 2008, when the bull run in grain prices really kicked off, that was the sense that swept through the grain industry. Finally, the world was going to have to ante up and pay farmers a fair price for their products. And keep paying […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans and wheat up on spillover from soymeal
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago / Reuters – U.S. soymeal surged 7 per cent on Wednesday, increasing this week’s gains to the largest in six years as a slow start to a record soybean harvest coupled with slow traffic on the nation’s railroads forced crushing plants to cover short cash positions in the futures market. Soybeans jumped nearly 3 per cent and corn […] Read more
Make the most from the 2014 market
Grain markets aren’t going to bounce back any time soon, says Calgary-based market adviser Errol Anderson. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t wins to be made
Reading Time: 8 minutes Grain and oilseed prices are reeling from massive global crops, and the growing consensus is that we may not see a bull run in the market at any time in the new crop year. In fact, the USDA’s latest long-range forecasts have got some analysts predicting we may not see another bull for 10 years. […] Read more
Looking for a safe bet in an era of crop price predictions
Grain and oilseed prices are down across the board, but there soon could be some opportunities
Reading Time: 5 minutes Grain farmers across Canada are facing a stagflation-like, worst-of-both-worlds scenario heading into the fall of 2014 thanks to a badly timed combination of projected lower yields and weak prices. When Canadians were hit by stagflation in the late 1970s, they got both barrels with stagnant economic growth and high inflation rates. This crop year, farmers are the […] Read more
If the good times are gone
Can your farm survive the next 25 years at this winter's grain prices? It may have to
Reading Time: 5 minutes Since 2007, grain producers have profited from unprecedented high grain prices. Even this year’s record yields and high crop insurance payments have moderated the impact of the recent drop in grain prices. Most growers continue to feel the good times they have experienced for the past six years are going to continue. Gary Schnitkey thinks such farmers are wrong, maybe even fatally wrong. Schnitkey […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
