THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015
VOL. 93 | NO. 47 | $4.25
New genome editing technology can prolong the life of this tomato. See how it works in our special report, PAGE 26.
SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923
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FARMFAIR
Families reign supreme at cattle show BY MARY MACARTHUR CAMROSE BUREAU
EDMONTON — The two families from Forestburg, Alta., spend summers travelling to cattle shows together. They host a Red Angus bull sale and consider themselves to be close friends . This fall, they’ve been winning together too. They won supreme champion cow and bull at the Lloydminster Stockade Roundup held Nov. 4-7 and now they have won supreme champion cow and bull at Farmfair. A Red Angus cow and bull calf, from Ter-Ron Farms of Forestburg, Alta., won supreme champion female and a Red Angus bull owned by Redrich Farms, of Forestburg, Alta., and Wood Coulee Red Angus won supreme champion bull at Farmfair, Nov. 14. For the central Alberta friends, winning the supreme champion show was the reward for a life of hard work. SEE FAMILIES, PAGE 4
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Rob and Halley Adams share a moment of joy as their Red Angus cow and calf are declared winners at the supreme show at Edmonton’s Farmfair. The cow was Halley’s 4-H project for three years. The Dietrich family won the supreme champion bull class. | MARY MACARTHUR PHOTO MARKETING
Which crops will emerge as best to sell first? u|xhHEEJBy00001pzYv/:= BY ED WHITE WINNIPEG BUREAU
There’s not much to choose between. That’s the situation facing farmers with bins full of unpriced crop and an unpromising market in which to sell it. Apart from high prices and an exciting market in pulse crops, most western Canadian crops are caught in a doldrums of low prices and little
playable market momentum. “You need a weather wreck,” said Winnipeg analyst Greg Kostal of Kostal Consulting about what could give crop markets some direction. “You’ll have need-to-fill-the-pipeline type rallies, but until a weather story engages, this is kind of a leadlower type sloppy environment.” Most farmers have trouble making money at today’s crop prices if they include all their fixed and variable costs. Many right now are hoping
low crop prices will be replaced with a rally and a higher price plateau over the winter. Often crop prices bottom near the end of U.S. harvest because that is when farmers are often willing to part with their crops at lower prices and are delivering new crop, often straight from the field. But many analysts say the world’s markets are now well-supplied with new crop and it will be hard for the market to pull off a post-harvest
rally when there is so much waiting to be priced and moved. “I’m usually bullish, but I’m not bullish anything these days,” said John Duvenaud, the publisher of the Wild Oats markets newsletter. Both Duvenaud and Kostal said pulse crops are one bright spot in the market today, with farmers being richly paid for mustards and almost every other type of special crop. SEE GO SLOW, PAGE 5
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PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU ISSUES ORDERS TO CABINET. WHAT ARE HIS PRIORITIES FOR AG? | P10 Agritechnica Big bales or little pellets? Farmers can soon choose with Krone’s new machine that allows forage harvesting and pelleting on the fly. | Page 66
Proposed provincial park worries ranchers Cattle producers who graze their animals in the province’s Castle forestry reserve worry the spread of camping in the area will force them out. | Page 64
The Western Producer is published in Saskatoon by Western Producer Publications, which is owned by GVIC Communications Corp. Publisher: Shaun Jessome Publications Mail Agreement No. 40069240
Pulses are attracting good prices, but farmers are advised to go slow marketing other crops
NOVEMBER 19, 2015 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Stn. Main, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4