86
OCTOBER 6, 2011 | WWW.PRODUCER.COM | THE WESTERN PRODUCER
AGFINANCE
CDN. BOND RATE:
CDN. DOLLAR:
1.342%
$0.9536
1.80%
1.020
1.60%
1.000
1.40%
0.980
1.20%
0.960
1.00% 8/29
9/2
9/12 9/19 9/26 10/3
0.940 8/29
9/2
Bank of Canada 5-yr rate
9/12 9/19 9/26 10/3
Oct. 3
A G F IN ANC E E D I TO R: D ’ A RC E M C M ILLAN | P h : 306- 665- 3519 F: 306-934-2401 | E-MAIL: DARC E.M C M ILLAN @PRODUC ER.C OM
AG STOCKS FOR SEPT. 26 - 30
OILSEED | FARM PROCESSING
Trial and error, patience key for canola oil venture Cold press method | On-farm oilseed crusher produces artisanal product aimed at foodies and chefs BY BRYN LEVY SASKATOON NEWSROOM
Olive oil, long the standard for high-end cooking oil, is facing some Canadian competition. Using a technique called cold pressing, where oilseeds are crushed at low temperature to retain more organic matter than conventionally pressed oil, Canadian companies are making small batches of artisanal cooking oil using oilseeds like canola and camelina. Tony Marshall, president of Highwood Crossing Farm, got into cold pressing canola following a trip to Germany in the early 1990s.
on the farm.” Marshall bought a press from a Germa n ma nu f a c t u re r a n d ha d i t shipped to Canada. Importing the equipment was the first hurdle, but making it run once it arrived was also a challenge. A special building had to be constructed to house the press, so that everything would be in accordance with Health Canada regulations concerning food products. Getting the press running was a matter of trial and error, because the manuals were in German, with a few inadequate English translations. Making an organic product has carried its own set of difficulties, said Marshall. Most canola is genetically modified, so obtaining non-GM canola was difficult.
It quickly became apparent that if we were to make this thing work, we needed to start capturing the value ourselves on the farm. TONY MARSHALL HIGHWOOD CROSSING FARM
Marshall was struck by the different attitude Europeans had toward food and was impressed when he saw how people in small communities would flock to their local oil presser once a week to get fresh-pressed oil. Until then, Marshall, and his wife, Penny, had been growing and selling organic crops from their farm near Calgary, which has been in Marshall’s family for 115 years. “It quickly became apparent that if we were to make this thing work, we needed to start capturing the value ourselves
access=subscriber section=ag_finance,none,none
They don’t grow canola on their own land because they can’t guarantee that GM canola will not creep into their fields, so they have had to find more isolated growers in Alberta who still use non-GM seed. Eventually, the obstacles were overcome and Highwood Farms was in the oil-making business. All they had to do now, was sell the product. Marketing, branding, and selling aren’t necessarily strong suits for producers, said Marshall. Luckily, he had worked in marketing before taking over the family farm. They started selling oil at farmers’ markets and quickly realized they
had a unique product that fit with a growing desire for organic, local food. Liana Robberecht, executive chef of the Calgary Petroleum Club has been using Highwood Crossing Farm’s oil since they began making it. She said that the product fits with the restaurant’s mandate to buy at least 70 percent of their menu locally. More importantly, she said, the oil is an excellent quality product. “It tastes great, and it looks like spun gold on a plate,” she said. Robberecht said chefs are a great target market for producers of niche food products. “Chefs love meeting farmers and producers, because we’re all about where the food comes from.” She added that while marketing savvy is always important, ultimately having a good product is key. “You know the taste of a carrot is going to sell itself. The beautiful finishing touches of an oil, that’s a slamdunk sale,” she said. While setting up an artisanal canola pressing business carries significant challenges, a group of Saskatchewan producers have added another wrinkle with their artisanal oil; getting the product approved as a food product. Three Farmers, a company based near Midale, Sask., makes cold pressed camelina oil. Natasha Vandenhurk, director of sales and marketing said that one of the company’s founders became interested in camelina after attending a presentation on use of the oilseed for biofuel. “He thought there would be more value in it as a food oil,” she said. At the time, camelina had yet to be approved in Canada for use in food. Vandenhurk said that navigating the novel foods approval process, which is required for all new products, was costly and time-consuming. However, she said they knew they’d succeed because camelina has thousands of years of history as a food oil crop in Europe and Asia. With regulatory approval in hand, they started making oil in 2009. Vandenhurk was hired to oversee the marketing. She said all producers wanting to make value-added products should seek marketing expertise. “You need someone full-time to pay attention to that. As long as you understand the product and your target market, you can bring something together,” she said.
Worries about Greece defaulting on its debt kept pressure on stock markets that closed the third quarter with big losses. The TSX composite rose 1.4 percent, the Dow climbed 1.3 percent, the S&P 500 was down 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq fell 2.7 percent. For the year, the TSX is down 13.5 percent and the Dow is down 5.7 percent. Cdn. exchanges in $Cdn. U.S. exchanges in $U.S.
GRAIN TRADERS NAME
EXCH
ADM NY Alliance Grain TSX Bunge Ltd. NY ConAgra Foods NY Viterra Inc. TSX W.I.T. OTC
CLOSE LAST WK 24.81 22.30 58.29 24.22 10.31 13.45
25.19 20.50 56.62 23.62 10.19 13.45
PRAIRIE PORTFOLIO NAME
EXCH
Assiniboia FLP OTC Ceapro Inc. TSXV Cervus Equip. TSX Millstreet TSXV Ridley Canada TSX Rocky Mtn D’ship TSX
CLOSE LAST WK 40.12 0.11 14.41 0.13 9.40 8.86
40.12 0.11 14.06 0.13 9.40 8.70
FOOD PROCESSORS NAME
EXCH
BioExx Hormel Foods Maple Leaf Premium Brands Smithfield Sun-Rype Tyson Foods
TSX NY TSX TSX NY TSX NY
CLOSE LAST WK 0.36 27.02 11.38 15.37 19.50 7.71 17.36
0.36 26.88 11.30 15.46 18.20 7.55 16.44
FARM EQUIPMENT MFG. NAME
EXCH
AGCO Corp. NY Buhler Ind. TSX Caterpillar Inc. NY CNH Global NY Deere and Co. NY Vicwest Fund TSX
CLOSE LAST WK 34.57 5.60 73.84 26.24 64.57 9.83
37.61 5.60 73.86 27.25 67.47 9.83
FARM INPUT SUPPLIERS NAME
EXCH
Agrium TSX BASF OTC Bayer Ag OTC Dow Chemical NY Dupont NY BioSyent Inc. TSXV Monsanto NY Mosaic NY PotashCorp TSX Syngenta ADR
CLOSE LAST WK 69.75 60.88 54.81 22.46 39.97 0.28 60.04 48.97 45.50 51.87
74.14 59.85 53.55 23.53 40.46 0.24 63.64 57.70 47.28 51.78
TRANSPORTATION NAME
EXCH
CN Rail CPR
TSX TSX
CLOSE LAST WK 70.03 50.52
67.34 48.59
Toronto Stock Exchange is TSX. Canadian Venture Exchange is TSX Venture or TSXV. NAS: Nasdaq Stock Exchange. NY: New York Stock Exchange. ADR: New York/American Depository Receipt. OTC: Over the counter. List courtesy of Ian Morrison, investment advisor with CIBC Wood Gundy in Calgary, a division of CIBC World Markets Inc. Member of CIPF and IIROC. Listed stock prices come from Thompson Reuters and OTC prices from Union Securities Ltd. Sources are believed to be reliable, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Morrison can be reached at 800-332-1407.
Agco buys GSI (Reuters) — Farm equipment maker Agco Corp. is buying grain storage systems maker GSI Holdings Corp. from the affiliates of private equity firm Centerbridge Partners. The $940 million purchase expands Agco into the grain storage and livestock feed and housing equipment industries. Grain Systems sells products under brands such as GSI, Zimmerman, FFI, DMC, AP Systems, Cumberland and Hired-Hand. access=subscriber section=ag_finance,none,none