Farming in Flooded Soils

The past decade of farming have brought extremes of weather conditions – recent years have seen excess rain and saturated soil conditions.  Excess water has brought new challenges to farming, some which can be managed and others which we cannot. Today, we will discuss how wet conditions affect the soil and crops on our farms in Saskatchewan.

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Getting Serious About ROI (Return on Investment) – The Impact of Balanced Crop Nutrition.

Edgar Hammermeister, PAg
Field Services Manager
Western Ag Labs Ltd.

As intriguing as rising crop prices are, it does not take long for inputs to rise as well. What is often under estimated is the impact crop nutrition can have on crop quality, yields and ultimately income. But is adding more nitrogen the answer? This commonly held belief will be challenged. Nutrients can be over applied resulting in crop returns being less than the expense invested. At the same time risk has increased and cash flow is challenged. The farm manager’s focus needs to be on Maximum Economic Yield (MEY).

This presentation will discuss optimizing crop nutrition for optimum financial returns.  Successful crop planning takes into consideration not only sound crop agronomy, but also the degree of risk tolerance and farm logistics.

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Grain Storage Costs & Options

Mike Plypchuk
Ministry of Agriculture

Grain Storage – What does it cost me?
Storing grain on the prairies is a normal practice, but what does it really cost? Is there an advantage to store grain in bins versus bags? Or both? Can I afford it?

Many farms have gone through or are contemplating expanding their seeded acres and may be wondering what the best option is for them when it comes to grain storage. The current value of grains, oilseeds and specialty crops also have a bearing on investment and types of storage systems to consider.

So, how do I determine which system is the best for me? Can I determine what my annual costs will be per bushel of grain storage? Find these out during the presentation and have an opportunity to determine your own costs.

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Are You Ready For An Open Grain Market?

Dustin Gabor B.Sc. Agribusiness
Ag-Chieve Corporation

With plans underway to end the grain marketing monopoly, it is going to be very important for Western Canada farmers to understand both the changes and opportunities that are coming to wheat, durum, and barley marketing in an open market

Pricing
Deciding when to sell wheat in an open market will involve monitoring the futures and identifying trends, price ranges, reversal signals, and objectives.  Having this information at hand and having the ability to market intraday will be important for setting price targets for your wheat.  Also monitoring the new look protein premiums and discounts, basis levels, and pricing incentives such as options and trucking premiums will add value to your wheat production.

Moving Grain
Delivering your wheat will bring new opportunities and pose new challenges with an open market.  With the removal of the percentage call system, you will be able to better manage cash flows and bin space with your wheat production at harvest.  Some challenges to consider will be the removal of the CWB’s lease on railcars for wheat.  Producer car involvement will be limited initially as grain companies will prefer to deal with their own grain sales. 

An open grain market presents both opportunities and challenges. With the right tools and analysis of futures, basis, pricing incentives and delivery opportunities, the challenges will become opportunities for your farm, allowing you more control of how and when you sell your grain, just like the other commodities you currently sell.

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