isn't a low Canadian dollar good for agriculture?

[theplowboy]

This .80 Cdn dollar should make our grain more attractive to markets like China and India right?

[bucket]

It's proving to be really good for graincos.

[tweety]

really really really good for them yup

[ado089]

Is the Canadian dollar low or is it just read the USD is high. It's not the same thing when dealing with countries other than the US.

[SASKFARMER3]

Not in Ag.
Equipment is now 20% higher coming in from USA.
Fert is up because even if it comes from Canada its priced in USA dollars.
HA HA
Grain companies use the dollar difference for extra profit as its never figured into basis.
It goes on and on and on.

[kato]

Good for cattle.

[bucket]

Kato.

Good for you cattle guys that stuck it out. You deserve even more.

Here is a question I ask local cattle guys.

Would it make sense to further reduce your herd, put some cash away, reduce work load while still making the same money on fewer head? By reducing you are creating demand with lower supply and prices should stay high longer?

Just wondering?

[tweety]

cuz that's what grain farmers do. Strive to grow less. Not spending every checkoff dollar and government research dollar trying to squeak out just that little bit more yield.

[bucket]

I only ask because if you have 100 head with nice weather you are not going to have 200 calves out of them.

It's a little different than grain farming.

Cattlemen have an opportunity to prove the theory. And they have nothing to lose other than some work.

[kato]

Our plan is to maintain the herd and get out of debt. We are not getting any younger, so aren't looking to expand. Last fall is the first one where we didn't buy a couple of hundred feeders, and we are kind of liking not having that extra work.

Any expansion we would do in the future will involve the feeders, not the cows. Our herd matches our land base, and we have developed a real hatred of debt, so won't be going down the road of buying land.

A holiday now and again would be nice.

[bucket]

Kato

Good but in order to use feeders you need someone in the cow calf business.

My question still remains. Does it makes to downsize, take some cash , make the same money and do less? And at the same time extending better prices with lack of supply?

[bluefargo]

Theoretically a low dollar is good for anyone exporting, like farmers, and I'm sure it is. But for some reason I liked it when it was higher. Maybe because I travel once in awhile. I'm sitting in the Toronto airport as we speak. It just seems
when we have a strong dollar we are more prosperous. Just saying!

[farmaholic]

At what point will domestic prices make it more attractive for importers? Kangaroo meat anyone?

[Hopalong]

If 80 cent dollar is good, why would not a 50 cent or 10 cent dollar be better?
Question of where to draw the line in descent to zero.

[kato]

It makes sense to downsize if finances allow. For sure, it makes sense to improve the balance sheet first though.

Even maintaining is good, for now, since the over all cattle herd is so low, and rebuilding takes several years. When rebuilding starts, numbers usually tighten up some from heifers being held off the market. A bigger worry is how fast the hog numbers can go up.

As for the feeders, We would like to give this new market some time to settle and find it's range.