February 2011 Archives

Not sure where you might be buying gas this morning, but fuel prices in Calgary, yesterday, jumped to $1.12 to $1.14 per litre depending where you shop. That’s a nine or 10 cents per litre hike.

I know there is a conflict happening in Libya, and I understand the importance of that. Along with having a terrible sense of fashion, I believe Col. Gadhafi has run a brutal and oppressive regime for 40 years that needs to be replaced and I wish the protestors well on their mission.

But, back here at home, I think the oppressive regime we live with is this BS economics called the law of supply and demand.

I’m sure every economics major will laugh at me, but too often industry trots out this “law” as just being a fact of life, it is inescapable. In fact they seem to elevate it beyond a man-made rule, to some divine declaration — God has so ordered!

I know that Libya is a major player in the oil industry, but you can’t tell me that whatever degree of unrest they’ve had there for the past week, has had one millisecond of impact on the quality or production cost of fuel that is in holding tanks in the Mohawk gas station that is five minutes from my house. And yet the price of fuel jumped 10 cents.

I do believe in free enterprise, everyone should be paid fairly for goods and services, etcetera, but increasingly I see with any little wobble in the status quo there is an immediate reaction to raise prices.

Fuel is one example, but it happens with many goods and services. As soon as there is a frost in Brazil, retailers are changing the price of coffee on the shelf. The odd time in my life I’ve bought something and a retailer says this is existing stock worth X amount, but the new stock will be more expensive.

And I can more or less understand that. But what I don’t get is the instant price hike on existing supplies that haven’t changed one iota in quality or consistently that increase in value over night just because there may be a shortage or interruption in supply down the road. Call it the law of supply and demand, but to me it’s just gouging.

I know farmers live with this reality. There isn’t one grain or livestock producer out there that doesn’t know that as soon as the price of wheat or canola or beef or pork goes up, the next shoe to drop is an increase in the price of fertilizer, herbicides, feed, antibiotics and every other input. Yes, it is the law of supply and demand that increases the value of commodity the farmer is producing, but so often that increase is just bringing them to some measure of profit, after prolonged periods of trying to conduct business with negative or break-even margins. It’s like the moment they see daylight, in comes this overwhelming cloud of higher input prices and it is all defended by the law of supply and demand — God ordered these price increases.

I see few if any input suppliers going through these really lean, break-even margin periods. They may go through periods when they don’t make as much profit this quarter over last, but there is always a profit.

I’m not sure where this rant is headed. Maybe it is time for farmers and urban consumers to grab their cell phone cameras and social media tool kits and head to the corporate offices, and university economics departments and demand a re-write of the law of supply and demand to include somewhere in the text the words “fair, reasonable and justified”.

The learned ones can call it a Law of Supply and Demand, and consider that a defense, but to me it is all too often just a dressed up euphemism for good old fashion, common, garden variety “greed”.

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Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

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There will be six one-day workshops across Alberta in early March bringing together cow/calf producers to better understand the beef markets, to discuss insurance price programs, and to identify market opportunities.

Cow-Calfenomics 2011–Strategies Moving Forward is a one-day workshop that looks at beef trends, explains some available tools for risk management, and helps cow/calf managers calculate their bottom line. The workshop locations include:

•    March 1, Fairview

•    March 2, Mayerthorpe

•    March 3, Ponoka

•    March 8, Claresholm

•    March 9, Hanna

•    March 10, Vermilion

This workshop is a partnership effort between Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Alberta Beef Producers, Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta (ARECA) and Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC). Presenters will discuss strategies for reducing the two largest costs to cow calf operators - replacements and feed. Speakers will vary at the locations, but presentations will be similar.”

“The beef industry has been a very trying business for the last seven years,” says Grant Lastiwka, grazing/forage/beef specialist with Alberta Agriculture. “Lately, calf, yearling and fat prices have risen and by all appearances will be staying up for some time. Some of the themes that will be considered at the workshops are strategizing to make a profit in the years ahead; answering how cow/calf operators could profit more fully in the next few years and build back lost equity; retiring wealthier a few years from now; running a financially stronger cow/calf–yearling business in the future; and, taking advantage of sound financial opportunities that may allow involving the next generation.”

The objective of this series of workshops is to get cow/calf managers together for ‘idea networking’ and gaining a better understanding of the risks and opportunities in future beef markets, discussing what financial performance indicators are saying, demonstrating how to use the new Ranchers Return tool to determine profit, and how the three new Cattle Price Insurance Programs work.

“Our goal for seminar participants is that they will come away with a clearer picture of the future beef cycle,” says Lastiwka. “We also hope that cow-calf managers will leave with a few more ideas on profit making strategies to consider.”

Workshop cost is $25, which is payable at the door. For further information and to pre-register, contact Jacqueline or Ashley at the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta at 780-416-6046. Pre-registration is required on or before the Friday of the week before the workshop

“This is a seminar for all cow-calf managers wanting to look critically at their operations now and position themselves to take greater advantage of the near future,” says Lastiwka.

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There are three meetings and workshops coming up in southern Alberta farmers should note.

March 3, 2011 – The Southern Applied Research Association holds its annual meeting at Bully’s Grandstand, third floor, at Exhibition Park in Lethbridge. The meeting gets underway at 8:30 and runs until 11:30 am. 

Agenda items include various SARA reports, a presentation on Bill 36 Landowner Rights, and update on new winter wheat research and a review of canola production. 

Everyone will receive a free breakfast, and the first 100 people to register will get a complimentary pass to AG Expo.

March 8, 2011 — A half-day workshop on Building Profit-Based Crop Plans will be held at the Lethbridge Research Centre, starting at 9 a.m.  The agenda will include a market outlook, a review of Alberta Agriculture’s CropChoice Software, and a session on creating a crop plan for 2011 based on projected profitability and risk management. Instructors are Dale Kaliel, senior production economist and Lee Mevill, marketing advisor with Myers Norris Penny. Bring your laptop and farm information to work through scenarios.

To pre-register call (403) 381-5188 or email: chris@farmingsmarter.com    .

March 10, 2011 – A half-day workshop on advanced precision farming will be held at Lethbridge Research Centre from 9 a.m. until noon. Topics will include controlled traffic farming; economics of variable rate technology and advanced precision farming technology. To pre-register call (403) 381-5118 or email: chris@farmingsmarter.com

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I saw on the news last night where Toronto is in a lockdown mode and may call in the military for assistance after someone found ungraded eggs at a grocery store. I am sure crisis counselors will be brought in to help distraught consumers cope.

These eggs were so bad that some even had bits of feather and specs of chicken poop stuck to them. But the last time I witnessed a hen at the miracle of egg laying, those are two potential by-products of the process.

I shouldn’t joke about ungraded eggs being sold at retail, because yes our eggs are supposed to graded and free from contaminates — a healthy, smart food choice. I know it wouldn’t take too many people with a bellyache or diarrhea to throw the whole egg industry into turmoil.

And I have to be careful too that I don’t come across sounding like one of those really old people who start every sentence with “in my day…..”  But I did get a kick out of the media’s alarm over these ungraded eggs. It was at or near the top news story and even beat the fall of the Egyptian government by several minutes in the broadcast line up.

Yes, the eggs should be graded, and I suspect the root of this story boils down to some economy-minded grocery store owner looking to increase his profit margin by making a deal with a Toronto-area chicken farmer looking to sell eggs outside of quota, who also wanted to increase his profit margin. I didn’t even consider it might be some terrorist plot aimed at destabilizing the Canadian economy by first weakening the footings of the feather industry.

The bio-hazard eggs in this news story appeared to have been stored in a refrigerated display cooler in the store, so I suspect it was the tell-tale feather stuck to a shell that spoiled the secret.

According to the U.S. Egg Safety Centre (who knew there was such a centre) on average one in every 20,000 eggs may contain salmonella on the egg shell or inside the egg. Provided eggs are kept refrigerated, cooked properly and eaten right away the risk of salmonella poisoning is extremely low. The primary responsibility for those three steps — refrigeration, cooking and eating — in my view, falls in the lap of the consumer.

You can candle an egg all day, but unless it is stored, cooked and handled  properly at home, grading isn’t going to do much good. But that kind of messaging doesn’t make a great headline.

I did learn in my limited research for this column that Canadian eggs are supposed to be received, washed, candled, weighed and packaged properly at a grading station. They are supposed to be stored in a cooler, washed and sanitized in water, candled to identify any shell cracks or internal imperfections like blood spots, or poor quality yokes, sorted by weight, packaged and re-stored in a cooler.

And that’s all very good, but one thing grading can’t do for an egg and that’s ensure it has really great taste. I often find that lacking in eggs. The taste is as anemic as the yolk. They are clean and sanitized, but in a blind folded taste test someone would have to whisper in your ear what you are eating, or you wouldn’t guess.

My courage may kill me some day, but I have never been afraid of a farm fresh, orangey/yellow yolked egg. And if there happens to be a small downy feather or spec of dirt on the shell, that would just confirm to me it came from a real chicken.

Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

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The Saskatchewan Stockgrowers Association has four more zone annual meetings planned for mid-February through to mid-March.

This week, Thursday Feb. 17, the Zone 7 annual meeting will be held at the Beechy Community Hall. The annual meeting gets underway at 4 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $20.

Speakers on the program include, Brian Weedon, past SSGA president and Donald Duncan of Millennium Land Ltd. talking about Oil and Gas – A Producer’s Perspective.

There will also be a benefit auction. Call Ed Bothner at 306-859-4602 or Brian Braun at 306-859-4820 for details.

Then, Friday, Feb. 18, the Zones 3 and 12 annual meeting will be held at the Glentworth Hall in Glentworth. The meeting gets underway at 1:30 p.m., with refreshments at 5 p.m. and a beef dinner at 6 p.m. There will also be a dance.

Guest speaker at the meeting is Grant Zalinko, market analyst with Saskatchewan Agriculture.

Cost is $15 per person, $25 per couple and $10 for the dance only.  SSGA members are reminded to bring items for the silent auction.

March 4, 2011, the Zone 5 annual meeting will be held at the Prince William Hotel in Melville, Sask. The meeting runs from 2 to 5 p.m. with Andrew Scheer, member of parliament for Regina – Qu’Appelle as a guest. Guest speakers include Kathy Larson, of the Western Beef Development Centre talking about cost of production, and Grant Zalinko, with a cattle market outlook.

For more information on the Zone 5 event contact Bill Huber at 306-336-2684 or Chad MacPherson at 306-757-8523.

And finally the Zone 1 annual meeting will be held in Carlyle, Sask. March 12, 2011. For details on this event contact Lloyd at 306-482-3743.

(If you missed it, the Zone 4 annual meeting was held Feb. 11 in Eastend.)

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I just sent in a request to head office asking for the next two to three weeks off to protest. Still waiting on that answer.

I am not sure what I will protest, but I am sure I can find some good cause – change of government, improved agricultural policy, more beef in Taco Time tacos.

The current turmoil in Egypt continues to amaze me. Not the fact that people are dissatisfied with the long-standing Mubarak government, but that any country can find that many people to be out on the streets to protest vigorously, sometimes violently for that long.

I cannot imagine an issue that would arise in Canada or the US for that matter that would bring thousands upon thousands of people to be on their feet protesting 24/7 for more than two weeks. I’m not saying the Egyptian people don’t have reason to protest, but the fact they have that much passion and commitment to a single cause is amazing.

I heard the other day, the founding organizers for this protest in Egypt are actually the very passionate sometimes radical soccer fans. The militant soccer fans are well experienced at staging loud, occasionally violent demonstrations. We all know how seriously fans throughout Europe and the Middle East take their soccer – well that is very much the case in Egypt. Apparently the Egyptian soccer fans got their training in Italy and brought it back to that north African country.

There have been some pretty big rallies, marches and demonstrations in North America in my memory, but nothing nearly as sustained as this protest in Egypt. I know it is a serious issue — a good portion of the population want a change in government. And somehow I think that is very much different than four or five people here sitting around at a Tim Hortons figuring it is time to kick out the Conservative bums and elect the Liberals, or NDs, or the Green Party.  It is a magnitude of urgency I or we don’t understand.

But so often in Asia, the Middle East or Europe I see thousands of protestors take to the streets for various causes, almost instantly, and for varying periods of time and I always think “where do these people come from, don’t they have jobs, don’t they have to make a living?” Maybe they don’t and most likely the issues are just more important than I appreciate.

I guess I can be grateful that my life in Canada is good to the point that I don’t feel a need to organize or join thousands of protestors on the street to effect some change. And that is good on many levels, because it has been several hours since I made my request for a protest leave and I’m not seeing any memo urging me to “go for it”. It is cold and snowy too, so if I do come up with an issue I'd be smart to schedule my protest leave for July.

Lee Hart is a field editor for Grainews in Calgary, Contact him at 403-592-1964 or by email at lee@fbcpublishing.com

Today in the world…snow storm of the century is barreling across the U.S. and into eastern Canada; waterlogged Australia is bracing for a typhoon of biblical proportions; some guy in B.C. thought it made sense to shoot and cut the throats of a 100 dogs because his boss told him to; Twitter continues to work overtime to bring down the government in Egypt; Charlie Sheen may not be taking rehab seriously —geez there’s a bulletin; Prince William and his new wife may come to Canada after they are married — why not, they own it; Alberta is completely rudderless now that both the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition have quit — and I didn’t think it was such a bad place to work; and in a reckless bit of driving yesterday I ran over and killed Balzac Billy so we will not know on Ground Hog Day (today) if there will be more winter ahead or not — I apologize for that. The best news is I know the Canadian beef industry is in good, caring hands after a friend of mine at the Canadian Cattleman’s Association called me at 1 a.m. this morning to say he was sorry he didn’t get back to me earlier in the day, but we could talk later today. I slept much better after that. 

Lee Hart is a long time blogger and social media guru who can be reached at lee@fbcpublishing.com