20121206

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012

VOL. 90 | NO. 49 | $4.25

P 78

SERVING WESTERN CANADIAN FARM FAMILIES SINCE 1923

MARKETS | ESTIMATES

Optimism too high in corn, soybeans

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WWW.PRODUCER.COM

RESEARCH | WHEAT

WINTER UPGRADES

Wheat genome breakthrough will have major impact BY ROBERT ARNASON BRANDON BUREAU

USDA numbers baffle analysts | Miscalculation expected to send prices up

It’s not the holy grail of the complete wheat genome, but an international consortium has identified nearly 100,000 genes in the DNA of wheat. The research and the identification of specific genes, published in the journal Nature in late November, should help wheat breeders develop varieties with increased yield, disease resistance and other desirable traits. “This work moves us one step closer to a comprehensive and highly detailed genome sequence for bread wheat, which along with rice and maize is one of the three pillars on which the global food supply rests,” Jan Dvorak, professor of plant sciences at the University of California Davis and a co-author of the study, said in a statement.

BY SEAN PRATT SASKATOON NEWSROOM

Grain markets are far too optimistic about South America’s pending corn and soybean crops, says a trader for a major grain firm. According to Jason Charles, who runs the export trading division of Land O’ Lakes Inc., the second largest co-operative in the United States, that means prices for those trend-setting commodities will be on the rise and prices for those crops, particularly corn, drive prices for other crops. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is counting on South America to produce 150 million tonnes of soybeans in 2012-13. Some crop analysts think it could be as high as 155 million tonnes. Charles believes markets have made a huge miscalculation. He can’t fathom why they are counting on 150 million tonnes of soybean production, which would be up from last year’s drought-reduced crop of 115 million tonnes. That’s a big leap of faith despite 11 million more acres going in the ground. “We’ve set a really optimistic bar,” he said in a Nov. 28 presentation at the Agri-Trend 2012 Farm Forum Event. “We need every day to be sunny. We need two inches of rain a week. We can’t have any infrastructure issues.” It reminds him of the USDA’s overly optimistic summer forecast for a 166 bushel per acre average U.S. corn yield. SEE OPTIMISM TOO HIGH, PAGE 3

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SEE WHEAT GENOME, PAGE 2

DECEMBER 6, 2012 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Box 2500, Saskatoon, SK. S7K 2C4

Albrecht Scheidegger of LaGlace, Alta., grinds down a weld while installing an electric motor into a new auger. There is plenty of work for grain farmers during the winter, from servicing equipment to hauling grain and clearing snow from the yard and around grain bins. | RANDY VANDERVEEN PHOTO

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