Great gifts for livestock producers

Nov 24, 2020

Wondering what to buy for the person who has everything? Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AF) Publications Office has dozens of agriculture publications ranging from $3 to $30, including:

Alberta Forage Manual ($30 plus GST) Agdex 120/20-1 – this book contains extensive descriptions of forage species and their growth habits to help with planning forage management programs. This expanded second edition offers producers comprehensive information on a range of forage topics, including adaptation, legumes and grasses, annuals, mixtures, establishment, fertility, pasture management, harvesting and rejuvenation. In addition, sections on forage pest insects and diseases present detailed discussion of these problems in forage crops, helping producers diagnose damage. Fully illustrated with over 350 colour images, plus line drawings, tables, charts and graphs, this forage reference work provides a wealth of information.

Beef Cow-Calf Manual ($30 plus GST) Agdex 420-10 – this manual contains up-to-date information for cow-calf producers, including sections on genetics, economics, calf management, nutrition and feeding, animal health, pests, handling facilities and fencing and herd management. It also includes a listing of additional online resources. Numerous colour photos, drawings and tables provide great depth to the information found in the 300+ page manual.

Silage Manual ($15 plus GST) Agdex 120/52-2 – this book looks at how silage systems can help producers develop nutritious, cost-effective feed supplies. It examines all aspects of silage making to help balance costs against benefits and weigh advantages against disadvantages. Key topics include ensiling process, crops for silage, silage additives, harvesting, silos, silage quality, feeding value and cost of production.

Find a full list on AF’s Publications web page.

Source : alberta.ca

Video: Is China Buying US Soybeans + USDA Nov 14th Crop Report could be “Game Changing”

After a week of a U.S./China trade truce, markets/trade is skeptical that we have not seen a signed agreement nor heard much from China or seen any details. There are rumors that China is buying soybean futures & not the physical. Trust in Trump?
12 MMT of U.S. soybean purchases by China by year-end is better than 0 but we all need to give it more time and give it a chance to unfold. China did lower the tariffs on Ag and is buying U.S. wheat and sorghum.
U.S. supreme court could rule against Trumps tariffs, but the Trump administration does have a plan B.
U.S. government shutdown is now the longest in history at 38 days.
But despite a U.S. government shutdown we will be getting a USDA November crop report next Friday and it could be “game changing.” If the USDA provides a bullish surprise with lower U.S. corn and soybean yields and ending stocks that are lower than expected both corn and soybean futures will break out above their ceilings at $4.35/bu and $11.35/bu respectively.
The funds continued their selling in live and feeder cattle futures on continued fears that the Trump administration want to lower U.S. beef prices. The fundamentals have not changed, only market psychology has.
Stocks markets continue to worry about a weak U.S. job market, but you can blame ChatGPT for that. In the future, we will have a more efficient, productive and growing economy with a higher unemployment rate until we have more skilled AI workers.
After 34 new record highs in the S & P 500 and 124 new records in the NASDAQ in 2025 we are back to a correction and investor profit taking as AI valuations may have gotten too stretched near-term ahead of NVDA’s 3rd quarter earnings announcement on Nov. 19th. But this is not an AI bubble.
75% of Tesla shareholders approved a $1 trillion pay package for Elon Musk!
It has rained in South America in the last 7 days, but both the American and European models agree that Central Brazil remains dry in the next 14-days!

Checking in with Ontario Christmas tree growers

U.S. organizations react to ag secretary candidates