Insights and Stories of Rod Nickel

Sep. 13, 2012 at 4:41 am CDT

Bigger Canadian production of corn and soybeans this year stands to backfill a small part of U.S. demand for those crops, after the Midwest drought slashed U.S. production. Canada is a minor producer of both crops on the global stage. The Midwest drought also extended to Ontario, curtailing potential production […]

By Rod Nickel

Sep. 11, 2012 at 11:13 pm CDT

Freezing temperatures look to arrive this week across parts of Western Canada, but steady harvest progress has left few of farmers’ crops vulnerable to damage, industry officials say. The first significant frost often hits the Prairie provinces by mid-September, but temperatures have only dipped slightly below freezing overnight so far, […]

By Rod Nickel

Sep. 11, 2012 at 7:48 pm CDT

Canada’s second-biggest hog producer, Big Sky Farms, has entered receivership as the North American hog industry struggles under the bruising costs of animal feed. Big Sky Farms, based at Humboldt, Sask., produces roughly one million pigs annually and accounts for 40 per cent of Saskatchewan’s total hog production. Under receivership, […]

By Rod Nickel

Sep. 11, 2012 at 7:21 am CDT

Western Canadian farmland is soaring in value, as farmers expand their lands and look to cash in on high crop prices, a report by real estate organization Re/Max said Monday. The price of high-end grain-producing land in southern Saskatchewan has jumped 20 per cent on average from last year to […]

By Rod Nickel

Sep. 11, 2012 at 5:41 am CDT

Canada’s dependence on cattle and beef sales to the United States leaves it at risk of becoming a net importer of beef from the U.S. as it buys back higher-value processed products, a report on the $6 billion industry said on Monday. Canada, the No. 5 beef exporter, ships 85 […]

By Rod Nickel