The Van Burgsteden Canola

   The weather in Saskatchewan was a bit tougher than in Manitoba... just like their football team.

Darla sent me a note this week saying they got the canola harvested.  They had a very wet summer.
Over double normal rainfall so the crops were on the poor side.  Harvest went well though and they were thankful for that.  Gerald said they got 25.514 net tonnes of cnola harvested ... There were 50 acres... So that made for a yield of 23 bu / acre  at a nice high price of  $13.44 / bu
Now they are applying fertilizer for next years crop !

The Arndt's of Melfort

    The wheat should be harvested at the Arndt's Kernels field in Melfort, Saskatchewan on Sept 10  Stay tuned for details !   Some partly drowned out earlier and parts of the field are looking just fine !
Anticipation !  Thanks to Regan and John Deere and the group for all the help there !  The guys at the Pioneer elevator are saving room for it !    Kendell wouldn't want to store it in his garage :)  

More on Ron's Field

The Kernels harvest is progressing well !  Good yields and great prices mean help to many !
Here are some picture from the harvest at the VanHeysts at Brandon.

It was Carberry Hard Red Spring Wheat   Great for making bread... It ran 52 bushels per acre and was dry and it graded # 1... niiiice  !                     And it ended up at the elevator on the same day !

A mature crop is ready to take the next step !

Harvest of Wheat happened today !

  Ron and Fran VanHeyst helped by Earl of VR Farms had 2 nice John Deere combines out doing Ron's field and the Kernels field today... They didn't swath it... they straight cut the wheat... cutting the wheat with a knife attached on the front of the combine with the reel to feed the wheat into the threshing part of the combine..  Luckily they were able to haul it all directly to our elevator... It ran a little better than 2 years ago when the same field was planted to wheat... a little over 8 tonnes for 6 acres annnnnnd we sold it for $8.01 / bushel.  It graded # 1 and was 14.1 % protein... One small field that packs a big punch when yielding good like that and then getting a high price and then getting matched 4 to 1 by CIDA.... niiiiiiiiice...  Will have pictures soon...

Ray the Grain Guy

We have 3 new real Kernels farmers this year. I took these pictures when I was putting up the sign at Danny and Pat Kowbels .  When asked they agreed instantly to grow a field this year.  They live right across Highway 10 from the VanHeysts !  Peer pressure at it's best.

All of our canola fields are either at full bloom or just past that stage now... The flowers are making pods and the pods making seeds and the seeds are  helping solve Hunger issues for many !

Ray the Grain Guy

Imagination ... a Dream , Know How and God's Miraculous Nature and Ron and Earl have turned this bare looking field above with wheat so small you can hardly see it into the thriving crop in the bottom picture... What's the bottom line you say ?  Ease of Hunger for so many more people !

(This is Ron and Fran's Field just north of Brandon on Hwy # 10)

Rally

We had a great day in the grain markets.  Once the markets began trading after the weekend they really jumped up.  Canola hot $13/ bu for October delivery.  Wheat hit over $7.50 / bu for Sept delivery for # 2 13.5... that is the best the prices have been yet for the 2012 harvest.  It is hot and dry in the US midwest area on the corn and soybean acres.  That effects our prices.  There has been a huge abscence of dryness in much of the prairies again so far... we do have the potential for some big yield this year.  a big crop with a big price is nice but it seldom occurs in the same year.  Long way to go till the crop is in the bin... around Winnipeg the nice yellow canola flowers are already coming out !  Stay tuned.

Ray the Grain Guy

Volatility

The new crop ( the crop that has just been seeded ) canola has been over $12 / bu for a couple of months .  That is really high compared to most years.  As crops got seeded we went ahead and put in a target for a little more per bushel.  I asked for 440 bushels at $12.49 / bushel.  After a few days they hit that target!  If we sold it today for fall delivery we would have got $12.22... that's a little bit extra money that can go a loooooong way !    

This has been your marketing play of the day !

What we know so far

     Our fields are spread over the prairies again with many real farmers teaming up with virtual farmers (that can and might be you ! )  to raise crops and funds to help people in the Congo help themselves.
The Penners, Maziers, Pankratzs and Kowbels are all growing canola for us near Justice and just north of Brandon, Manitoba.  The Marvins are back again with some acreage west of the elevator.  I wrote about the VanHeysts in the adjacent post.  They are in the same neighbourhood too !
  The Tiedes came through for us again at Strathmore, Alberta growing yellow peas for us.  In Saskatchewan we have our largest fields at Kinistino and Melfort with the Vanburgstedens growing canola and the Arndt's rotating their crop to wheat from the canola they grew last year.  Rotation goes along way towards preventing disease and troublesome insects.  The Hudyes at Norquay have several people partcipicating in Kernels by committing the entire crop from about 10 acres per farm through the "Helping Feed the World Program" 
      A little here and a little there adds up so fast.  People caring about others.  If you think you can help see the donor info on the adjacent post.  Or email me !
   I will keep you posted on the crop stages and conditions throughout the year.  Anticipation is half the fun and I am having more fun this year than ever as we do our part to End Hunger .

    

We are growing again in 2012 !

    You'll see a picture of return Kernels farmers the VanHeyst's !  They are growing 6 acres of hard red spring wheat for us this year.  It is just over a mile to the elevator when it is ready to harvest.  It is close to a market but there has to be a lot happen before then !   Soon the crop will be big enough that the weeds will need to be sprayed... leaving only the good stuff !  The good stuff is Carberry wheat.  It is one of the best bread quality wheats in the world.  If we were to set the price now we'd get about $7.25 / bushel.  We hope to harvest over 50 bushels per acre... IF, the weather is favorable from start to finish, IF no disease comes,  IF  insects don't attack, IF is one of the farmers favorite words. IF it works out we will be able to help so many people in the Congo get the proper nutrition through helping buy them seed and tools and providing training and at times emergency food rations.  This crop is barely visible in the picture... how could it help ?  It has huge potential and will do it's best to survive and thrive.  Just like people when given half a chance.  We have started planting and gathering funds to pay for those crops.  If you can help, gather some friends and gather some funds and send them to ECCC  Box 34025 RPO Fort Richmond, Winnipeg, Manitoba  R3T 5T5
Just write Kernels on the note line on the bottom of the cheque and we'd love to send you a donation receipt.  Each $ raised through farming and surplus donations (after the input costs are covered ) gets forwarded to World Relief Canada for the Canadian Food Grains Bank.  The Canadian Government throws in $4 for each $1 we raise !   Making a difference to about 4,000 people in North Kivu County of the Congo this year.  Grow with us !  

Ray the Grain Guy    

The fields are ready !

Guys are just getting out in the fields in this part of Manitoba... One comment from a producer was that the soil was the most mellow this year that he has ever seen. It tilled up perfectly and is ready to grow ! I will get you more details as we go but I can tell you we have quite a bit of canola going in for Kernels this year ! Grow with us !

Joseph Kony 2012

You can help save children in the Congo , Sudan and Uganda from Joseph Kony
Go to Kony2012.com on Invisible Children
there is a video that lets you help !

$12

The canola markets have been heating up ! Soybeans usually determine our canola prices and they are not having great yields in South America. They are also starting to run down the stocks of the Soybeans in the States... If the US gets seeding early ( good chance of that ) the farmers may put more corn in the ground than beans... We currently have shrinking stocks and great demand for Canadian Canola. This has been making for some excellent prices. We stepped into the market Friday March 16 and set a price of $12.00 / bushel for 5 tonnes of canola to be delivered to Brandon in September... $10 is usually a very good price...$12 is great
Stay tuned !
Ray the Grain Guy

Spring has Sprung

We have had a nice winter and spring has seemed to arrive early ! The farmers are getting restless ! We had some great news from World Relief Canada recently. Eric and Bruce of WRC have said we have totally funded the whole project in North Kivu in the Congo. (This is a year early ... wow ) They would like us to move an to another project. That is fantastic news. They haven't had to tell anyone something like this before ! Thanks to all of you farmers and virtual farmers who have been able to help us meet and then exceed our goals. I will have more details soon on who we can work with next.

Ray the Grain Guy