Errol Anderson

Making sense of ag markets

Agriculture can’t escape global economic trends, but farmers can adapt their market plans to key numbers. In this second of five columns, market analyst Errol Anderson tells us how

Reading Time: 7 minutes Grain prices rise, and grain prices fall. Sometimes it’s a straight supply issue. more grain gets produced, or less gets produced, and prices react accordingly. but those movements tend to happen over the short term. Often too, they’re tough to plan for because they’re sparked by either good weather or bad. Other issues hit on […] Read more

man in barn with dairy cow

A new cow farm in Japan

Farmers like Yoshiaki Shimazaki are modernizing Japanese agriculture, but he knows they have a long way to go

Reading Time: 5 minutes In a country where agricultural self-sufficiency is low, and where the farming population is old, with few young people seeing a future for themselves on the farm, Yoshiaki Shimazaki decided that agriculture could actually be a great and rewarding opportunity. From a family operation of 80 dairy cows, 70 calves and 300 beef cows in […] Read more


Grow it or lose it

Grow it or lose it

IP soybeans are at a crossroads. We need to grow more, but will the higher premiums drive Japanese buyers away?

Reading Time: 5 minutes On a sunny morning, early last September, a large crowd of growers gathered for an open-house event at Ceresco, a major soybean-specialized seed company and exporter in Quebec. After touring the plots, groups sat in a shed for a talk about the IP soybean market with co-owner Thierry Gripon. Gripon had a few public confessions […] Read more