Ag News

Cattle markets have turned the corner showing signs of improvement over the last few months as prices edge six year highs.

Cattle Market Analyst with Gateway Livestock, Anne Wasko, says supplies are tightening, cattle feeders are getting more current and cattle on feed numbers are down three per cent from last year.

Manitoba's sunflower crop has had a good year.

Jody Locke is senior originator with Scoular Canada (Winkler).

"Right now the crop is looking really good. The plants are nice and tall, they're standing straight, the heads have filled in. They're losing their pedals now. They're starting to fill in nice. The seeds are starting to fill in. Everything right now looks really good. We're pleased with how the crops are this year and they'll finish off really well."

She notes the growing season has provided a good mix of heat and moisture.

Cattle markets have turned the corner showing signs of improvement over the last few months as prices edge six year highs.

Cattle Market Analyst with Gateway Livestock, Anne Wasko, says supplies are tightening, cattle feeders are getting more current and cattle on feed numbers are down three per cent from last year.

Sue Clayton will be joining the School of Agriculture at the University of Manitoba (UM) as its new director on October 17th.

“The role of Director of the School of Agriculture encompasses what I have been passionate about over the course of my career – agriculture and education,” said Clayton.  “I see many opportunities ahead that will build upon the solid foundation of the School, ensuring our new curriculum continues to serve the next generation of farmers and agricultural sector employees.”

Generally speaking, Manitoba's corn crop has reached the dent stage.

Morgan Cott is an agronomy extension specialist with the Manitoba Crop Alliance.

"We've got enough moisture. I think that roots are as deep as they're going to get and they've been looking for the moisture and have been finding it all season long. I've seen a few fields that have a little bit of drought symptoms on field edges or field entrances. Generally, we have enough [moisture] to finish the crop off."

Cott says the corn crop is still about 10 days behind normal.

The outlook for the province's soybean crop remains positive.

"We're into the late R6 to R7 growth stage right now," said Dennis Lange, pulse specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. "We've have had some good rainfall this summer and the potential for the soybeans look pretty good in most areas of the province."

He's hoping the frost stays away for at least the first half of September.

Statistics Canada says total stocks for most crops were down as of July 31st compared with the same period one year earlier. Lower stocks were largely the result of lower total supply for the 2021/2022 crop year, which was because of low production in 2021 caused by drought in Western Canada. 

Jon Driedger is vice-president with LeftField Commodity Research.

The Bank of Canada announced this week an increase to its policy interest rate of 75 basis points to 3.25%, as it continues to address inflation.

FCC Chief Economist JP Gervais talked about the impact on farmers.

Via Government of Saskatchewan

After another incredibly dry week for the west-central region, producers have continued their harvest operations. Harvest progress has reached 61 per cent, up from 36 per cent last week and is well ahead of the five-year average of 38 per cent. Yield estimates for the region are well below average. Producers in crop district 7B (Kerrobert, Macklin, Wilkie and Biggar areas) have discovered some of their fields are yielding closer to average than expected.

A week of hot, dry weather in the majority of the province meant farmers were able to make some good progress with the harvest. 

This week's crop report shows 42 per cent of the provincial crop is in the bin, up from 23 per cent last week, and slightly ahead of the 5-year average of 40 percent.