Most years, there’s a wide variation in Saskatchewan fields. Seldom is it as extreme as this year. In many cases, the millions of acres of unseeded and flooded land is a mess. It was too wet for good weed control early in the season. It’s common to see waist-high weeds that are drying down from a herbicide application with the telltale ruts from the sprayer tires filled with water. In some cases, as the land dries, producers are resorting to tillage to break down the weed residue and fill in the ruts. While some of the crops in the wet zones are stunted and spindly, there are also some good crops, although many of them are two or three weeks late. On the western side of the province where the flooding wasn’t as serious, there are some absolutely excellent crops. If hail and frost stay away, there will be producers who harvest their biggest crop ever. Contrast that with producers who didn’t get a single acre seeded and you get an idea of the tremendous range in fortunes across the province. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: ag products, ag services, agricultural products, agricultural services, crop protection, crops, custom application, Dynagra, Fertilizer, finance solutions, herbicide, herbicide application, precision ag, precision agronomics, Saskatchewan, soil fertility, tillage, Variable Rate Technology, VRT, weed control, weed residue, weeds
A couple weeks ago, there was hope for a quick resolution to Mexican import restrictions on Canadian canaryseed. Unfortunately, there has been limited progress in resolving the problem. Canaryseed exporters in this province say that about half of the canaryseed railcars stopped at the Mexican border have been allowed to enter, but the status of the product now in Mexico remains unclear. A couple weeks ago, there seemed to be a willingness at the ministerial level in Mexico to forge a new agreement on weed seed levels in Canadian canaryseed, particularly in regard to wild buckwheat. That willingness has not been apparent within the Mexican bureaucracy. Exporters close to the situation say there have been communication breakdowns between Mexican and Canadian officials and there’s no estimating when exports will resume. In the meantime, canaryseed is only sporadically being purchased from farmers and prices are soft. Mexico is usually the top customer for our canaryseed and it won’t be a normal market until they’re back in. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: ag products, ag services, agricultural products, agricultural services, Canadian canaryseed, crop protection, custom application, Dynagra, Fertilizer, fertilizers, financial solutions, Mexico, precision ag, precision agronomics, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology, VRT, wild buckwheat
Viterra has released its own update of seeded acreage in Western Canada, along with how the reduction in acres may affect the financial results of the company. Viterra estimates that eight million acres went unseeded and another two million acres have been lost to excess rains. This is a bit less than the estimates coming from provincial governments. Saskatchewan alone is estimating eight million unseeded acres and four more million flooded. Viterra says it expects industry sales to decline by 15 to 17 per cent in fiscal 2010 with the largest declines in fertilizer and chemical sales. The impact will be felt in Viterra’s third quarter. The company says if harvest goes well and farmers are able to do post-harvest work there may be some catch up in fertilizer and chemical sales. Prairie production of the six major grains averages 49 to 50 million tonnes a year. Viterra is estimating this year’s production at 42 to 44 million tonnes. The company is hoping that on-farm carryover stocks, coupled with yield potential on acres unaffected by the weather could somewhat offset the impact of unseeded acreage. Personally, I think Viterra is being a bit too optimistic, but the company will benefit from operating across Western Canada and in South Australia, where conditions look good. Some of the companies that operate regionally will experience a lot more financial pain. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: agricultural products, agricultural services, chemical, crop protection, custom application, Dynagra, Fertilizer, fertilizers, financial solutions, precision agronomics, seeded acreage, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology, Viterra
Complications from all the wet weather are dominating the inquiries to the Ag Knowledge Centre of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. Producers have been asking about nitrogen losses and whether topdressing fertilizer might pay. It’s hard to give a clear cut answer, but cropping specialists are advising producers to scout canola and mustard crops for signs of sulphate deficiency. The symptoms usually appear in patches and include upward cupping of the leaves, yellowing between the veins of the earliest leaves, spindly plants and leaves with reddening or purpling on the underside. The fix is a prompt application of granular ammonium sulphate. More producers than usual are considering the aerial application of herbicides. Because of leaf diseases, producers are asking about mixing in fungicide with their herbicide application. Land rolling of pulses has also been delayed and producers are asking how late they can safely roll without causing yield loss. In some cases, producers are wondering about seeding crops for green feed or late grazing. The Ag Knowledge Centre says that on the forage side, there is growing concern that standing water and high humidity may make it difficult to harvest great-looking hay stands. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: Ag knowledge Centre, agricultural products, agricultural services, Ammonium Sulphate, Canola, crop protection, custom application, Dynagra, Fertilizer, fertilizers, financial solutions, herbicides, Mustard, nitrogen losses, precision agronomics, Pulses, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, soil fertility, sulphate deficiency, topdressing, Variable Rate Technology, wet weather, yield loss
There is no magic wand that governments can wave to fix all the problems created by the abnormal weather this spring. The AgriRecovery program isn’t much better than all the ad hoc programs governments have invented over the years, because AgriRecovery seems to have no set parameters. However, there are some special problems that have been created this spring where governments could perhaps step in and play a role. One of those special problems involves the spring cash advance. A producer emailed me pointing out that if you took a spring cash advance and you weren’t able to seed the acres outlined or if the crop doesn’t establish on those acres, the outstanding advance comes due 30 days after the submission of the seeded acreage report. Under more normal circumstances, that would seem reasonable, but this year a large amount of money has been spent on inputs that you may be stuck with. Inoculants have no value after their season of use and fuel can’t be returned. Fertilizer can also be a problem to return, especially blended fertilizer. Producers have been returning seed when possible, but it’s sometimes subject to significant restocking charges. It’s hard to know how many producers are in a crunch with a spring cash advance on unseeded acres, but it would seem reasonable to provide some latitude to producers caught in this situation. I’m Kevin Hursh.
DynAgra, an independent Western Canada-based Company, is dedicated to providing growers with the tools to manage the risk and maximize the profitability of their farm business through the continued innovation of agricultural products and services. We are committed to developing and providing growers with the latest in precision agronomics, variable rate technology, soil fertility, crop protection, fertilizers, custom application and financial solutions.
Tags: agricultural products, agricultural services, AgriRecovery, crop protection, custom application, Dynagra, Fertilizer, fertilizers, financial solutions, inoculant, precision agronomics, soil fertility, Variable Rate Technology
DynAgra is pleased to announce the opening of a chemical warehouse in Brooks. This will allow for Brooks area growers to have an independent choice in their market for agronomy, VRT, custom application, seed, chemical and fertilizer. The loss of Lakeside in the area has given DynAgra the opportunity to cover off the services that the big line companies will not provide growers in Southern Alberta. DynAgra is committed to providing value added services to Western Canadian farmers and we look forward to building new relationships in the Brooks area.
“We are very exciting about our expansion in the brooks area. We feel that growers value a local independent company that is willing to work the hours that are required to get the job done.” Don Roubos, Business Developments Specialist at DynAgra.
For more information on DynAgra’s Brooks chemical warehouse or Rolling Hills facilities please contact:
Don Roubos
Business Development Specialist
Phone: (888) 877-4177
Cellular: (403) 793-1835
Tags: agronomy, Brooks, chemical, custom application, Dynagra, DynAgra VRT, Fertilizer, lakeside, seed
Increasingly, the companies that sell farm inputs are targeting large producers. Given a choice between having one 15,000-acre customer or five 3,000-acre customers, it’s easy to see which is the most desirable. In many cases, farm input suppliers put their best staff members in charge of their biggest customers. They don’t want to lose a major account for fertilizer or crop protection products and they know that all their competitors would like to attract that customer. It’s probably fair to say that companies will compete harder on price and service in order to attract and retain the big guys. The marketplace also has more and more products geared specifically to large producers. One company in West Central Saskatchewan is promoting bulk farm storage for glyphosate herbicide. Glyphosate will be stored much the same as diesel fuel. The tanks are 11,000 and 19,000 litres in size. That replaces a heck of a pile of plastic jugs and even a lot of shuttles. The system makes glyphosate less expensive and more convenient, but it’s aimed at producers who farm a lot of acres. I’m Kevin Hursh.
Tags: crop protection products, Fertilizer, glyphosate, large producers
Fertilizer and fuel prices have come down dramatically, but farm machinery costs remain very high. The Statistics and Data Development Unit of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development publishes average farm input prices for Alberta for selected commodities. The information is now available in a new format that allows you to see current prices and compare those to price changes over the last five years. On diesel fuel and fertilizer, prices peaked in the summer and fall of 2008 and have since declined dramatically. The Alberta data shows the price of phosphate fertilizer, 11-51, peaked at about $1,350 a tonne in October of ‘08. Phosphate prices are now under $500 a tonne. Urea, 46-0-0, also peaked in October ‘08 when it reached nearly $950 a tonne. The current price is around $425. In contrast, equipment prices peaked this year and have remained high, probably due to the strong Canadian dollar. A four-wheel drive tractor in the 325 to 375 horsepower range was listed at $220,000 in September of ’08. The price is recent months has been around $250,000. A 3,500 bushel hopper bottom grain bin has seen an almost steady rise in price for the past five years. At the beginning of 2005, the price was about $9,500. Now that bin is well over $13,000. I’m Kevin Hursh.
Tags: Canadian Dollar, Fertilizer, fuel prices, phosphate, Statistics and Data Development Unit of Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development
Cycles of consolidation occur in all industries and then over time they breakdown and fragment again. We saw this first hand in agriculture around 10 years ago when Agricore United was buying up independents across the prairies; shortly after that a number of new independents or existing independents sprang up like gofers to fill the void left behind by the grain giants of Western Canada. How will the consolidation play out this time? Here are some current market dynamics to consider:
· The average age of the independent retail owners and their succession plan.
· Price shopping and aggressive pricing in the market has pushed margins very low.
· The correction we saw in the market last year eroded some equity from many retails.
· Agrium creating CPS Canada (crop production services) to acquire independent dealers that wish to exit the market place or to take over retails who went broke. To date Heartland Agro, Servagro and Ross Agri have become CPS stores.
· Viterra has acquired Lakeside in Southern Alberta and say they are potentially looking to buy more market share via the acquisition of existing retails.
· Agrium trying to acquire CF industries which will further reduce supply options in Western Canada
· The average farm size has likely doubled in the last 10 years, meaning they need a different service offering than the traditional retail provides.
· Farmland equity funds buying up farmland in Western Canada (rumors of some grain companies being involved) to control the land.
· Continued Market volatility. Who will be able to navigate and manage their risk moving forward.
Despite the picture these points paint we are seeing opportunities. We believe agriculture is in the best position it has been in for many years, why else have we seen Bay Street turn their eyes to agriculture?
At DynAgra we are a young, truly independent Ag business that is focused on leading our industry forward. We are committed to the farmers in the communities in which we live. We have invested heavily in advancing agriculture through technology backed innovation; DynAgraVRT, My Farm Manager, Sure-Check Soil Testing, Flexi-Scouting, DynAgra Finance and in bringing other new innovative ag products to our customers that make them more efficient, effective and hence profitable.
As independent entrepreneurs, if we continue to work, communicate and grow together, we will be able to capitalize on the future.
Create- Innovate- Cultivate
Remi Schmaltz
rschmaltz@dynagra.com
Tags: agrium, Dynagra, Fertilizer, lakeside, Variable Rate Technology, Viterra
One big problem in Canada’s beef industry doesn’t get a lot of attention. Canada’s rules for dealing with SRM, Specified Risk Materials, are much stricter than in the United States. SRM are the tissues in a beef carcass most likely to harbour BSE prions. Since July of 2007, the use of meat and bone meal containing SRM has been banned from livestock feeding and fertilizer in Canada. The industry supports these strict rules, but they come at a cost. For slaughterhouses, the regulations result in additional costs for removal and disposal of SRM that amount to roughly $5 per head for cattle under 30 months of age and $30 to $40 per head for cull cattle. The United States does not intend to adopt a similar regulation, so the competitiveness of Canadian slaughter companies is seriously affected, particularly on the slaughter of cull cattle. Cattle can just move across the border to where the regulations don’t apply. XL Beef in Moose Jaw has been shut down for the summer and the high cost of SRM management has been cited as one of the reasons. The government of Canada needs to find a way to compensate the industry for the cost of our more stringent rules. I’m Kevin Hursh. for more information on fertilizer prices call DynAgra at 1.800.941.4811
www.hursh.ca
Kevin Hursh PAg CAC
Tags: beef, Fertilizer, regulations
