Insights and Stories of Phil Franz-Warkentin

Jury still out on CWB’s new wheat contracts

Apr. 4, 2012 at 6:25 pm CDT

The jury remains out on the CWB’s recently-introduced pricing options for marketing Prairie wheat, according to industry analysts who say they see too many unknowns with the contracts to recommend them to farmers. A federal government bill passed in December 2011 will see the CWB lose its long-standing single-desk marketing […]

Tightening canola rotations may pose problems in long run

Apr. 2, 2012 at 11:30 pm CDT

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Durum acres set to rise, but canola competing

Mar. 28, 2012 at 5:30 pm CDT

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Prairie seeding still a month away

Mar. 20, 2012 at 11:31 pm CDT

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Prairie shortline railways look ahead to new reality

Mar. 14, 2012 at 4:20 pm CDT

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Prairie farmland demand strong

Mar. 11, 2012 at 10:00 pm CDT

Optimism in the agricultural sector has many Prairie farmers looking to add to their land-base this spring. That strong demand, together with a lack of willing sellers, is causing land prices to continue to move higher across Western Canada, according to real estate agents specializing in farmland. "There seems to […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

European rapeseed problems support canola

Mar. 7, 2012 at 6:31 pm CST

Adverse weather conditions in Europe this winter will likely cut into rapeseed production in the region, which would provide some indirect support for the Canadian canola market. "Any loss in Europe would tighten up world supplies… which would support our prices," said Chris Beckman, oilseed analyst with Agriculture and Agri-Food […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Grain World: Pooling, other options discussed for Prairie wheat

Feb. 29, 2012 at 11:43 am CST

Western Canadian farmers will be marketing their wheat, durum and barley in an open market for the first time in generations with the end of the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) single desk at the start of the 2012-13 crop year on Aug. 1. Some farmers may choose to continue marketing […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

GrainWorld: Which wheat futures are best?

Feb. 29, 2012 at 11:32 am CST

The end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk for marketing western Canadian wheat, due Aug. 1, is expected to create an increased need for a viable futures market to manage risk and aid in price discovery. To that end, representatives of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), Minneapolis Grain […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Dreyfus bullish on Canadian canola

Feb. 28, 2012 at 5:59 am CST

Solid demand and tightening supplies will require a considerable increase in Canadian canola acres this spring, Louis Dreyfus’ Canadian canola trading manager told a conference here Monday. "We truly require 21 million acres to meet the demand," Tracy Lussier of Louis Dreyfus Canada told the Wild Oats Grainworld conference. That […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin