Ontario Agriculture

The network for agriculture in Ontario, Canada

Howdy from Texas

AALP Class 17 arrived at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, and were greeted by Dr. Jim Mazurkiewicz, the leadership program director and professor of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Jim is also the director of Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership (TALL). Jim gave the group at brief history of Texas, and outlined the importance of agriculture to the Texas economy. Jim noted that Texas is the second largest agricultural state, with cattle being the largest commodity -- 90% of farmers have 100 cows or less. Texas is home to over 11 million head of cattle. Jim spoke of dairy farmers moving from California to Texas due to ever-increasing regulations and costs, “Texas is wide open for business," says Jim. Another memorable quote from Jim was, “leadership is about building bridges and making contacts and leaving the world a better place than we found it."

Following lunch we got back on the bus for a tour of Houston. The tour was given by Keith, who was very funny. It was an interesting view of Houston that we would not have seen on our own. The highlight of the ride was the water wall in downtown Houston. It is actually a water cooling system that was architecturally beautiful. Houston is the 4th largest city in America. Houston does not have any zoning rules. Keith showed us how that makes for some very interesting neighbourhoods. One of the homes we saw was made out of beer cans!

The day ended with dinner at the Aquarium Restaurant where we were able to dine under the sea surrounded by magnificent marine life. We all over ate and left feeling very satisfied. This was a great start to our Texas Adventure, y’all.

Views: 162

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Pulse Market Insight #300

Indian Monsoon Outcome Key for Pulse Outlooks We think it’s important to not react too quickly to weather events, and particularly forecasts. For example, the crop outlook in western Canada has already made a number of sharp U-turns, and it’s only mid-June. As we get further into the growing season, outcomes will become more certain and the outlook will become clearer. Even though we don’t want to bet too much on weather forecasts, there is a potential situation in India that certainly bears watching. Recently, the Indian Meteorology Department lowered its rain forecast for the southwest monsoon season to 90% of the long-term average, based on the potential for a large El Niño event. This was the lowest IMD monsoon forecast in at least 20 years. The actual monsoon performance doesn’t always line up with the IMD forecast, but the accuracy of its forecasts seems to be better in recent years. While there’s plenty of uncertainty in the forecast, it’s worth noting that back in 2014/15 an

Chicago Close: Lower Ahead of U.S. Juneteenth Holiday

Corn, wheat and soybean futures all finished lower on Thursday as traders adjusted positions ahead of the long U.S. holiday weekend. Chicago markets will be closed Friday for the Juneteenth federal holiday. Corn futures weakened despite generally supportive export news. The USDA confirmed private sales of 285,775 tonnes of corn to Mexico for delivery during the 2026/27 marketing year. Meanwhile, today’s weekly USDA export sales report showed about 1.16 million tonnes of old-crop corn and 519,035 tonnes of new-crop supplies. Old-crop sales were within trade expectations, while new-crop bookings fell short of the upper end of forecasts. July corn lost 3 ½ cents to $4.17 ½, and December dropped 4 ¾ cents to $4.44. A stronger U.S. dollar added pressure across the grain complex after the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday reinforced expectations for higher interest rates. A rising dollar makes U.S. agricultural commodities more expensive for overseas customers. Wheat futu

Saskatchewan Crop Conditions Slip but Still Strong

Saskatchewan crop conditions generally weakened through the first half of June but remain strong overall. Thursday’s crop report pegged the Saskatchewan canola crop at 76% good to excellent as of Monday, down 13 points from the province’s initial 2026 rating of 89% on June 1. Spring wheat was rated 82% good to excellent as of Monday, down from 90% on June 1. Durum slipped just 1 point to 89%, while winter wheat fell 6 points to 79%. Conditions also deteriorated for most feed grains. Oats declined 8 points to 80% good to excellent, and barley dropped 6 points to 83%. Among pulse and specialty crops, peas fell 6 points to 85% good to excellent, while chickpeas declined 3 points to 93%. Mustard dropped 4 points to 88%, and soybeans were down 6 points to 70%. Flax was unchanged at 87%, and lentils were down 9 points at 86%. Canaryseed was one of the few crops to improve, edging up 1 point to 88% good to excellent. Saskatchewan seeding advanced slowly over the past week, hitting

Fertilizer Canada supports Mercosur trade deal

Canadian policy must enhance potash competitiveness, the group said

Canadians pay $224 per year for supply management, a new report says

A think tank compared product prices in Canada with those in the U.S.

© 2026   Created by Darren Marsland.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service