Parts are already in short supply in Ukraine, and farmers are stockpiling and lending and borrowing amongst themselves. (Ihor Pavliuk photo)

Farming behind the lines in Ukraine

A Ukrainian agriculture journalist chronicles the challenges of sowing a crop during wartime

Ukrainians will farm their land, even in the face of war. In the Kherson area of southern Ukraine, where war rages and the city of Kherson is seen by the Russian invaders as strategic, a column set out on Monday. This was a column of tractors, under the flag of Ukraine. In it were farmers […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

CP to lock out engineers, conductors starting Sunday

'Cannot prolong the uncertainty,' CEO says

Canadian Pacific Railway has served its unionized engineers, conductors and train and yard service staff with notice of a lockout to start just after midnight ET on Sunday, unless the company and union agree on a new labour deal by then. Calgary-based CP and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP […] Read more

Charles Baron and partners brought FBN to Canada in 2017, buying Saskatchewan-based Yorkton Distributors. (FBN video screengrab via YouTube)

Antitrust probe in ag inputs dropped

Communications over FBN still 'concerning,' Competition Bureau says

Allegations suggesting ag chem sector players tried to derail an online farm-supply firm’s business in Western Canada haven’t turned up enough evidence for federal regulators to probe the matter further. Canada’s Competition Bureau announced Tuesday it’s now closed an investigation it launched in 2019 over allegations brought forward by the Canadian arm of Farmers Business […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Canadian and U.S. shippers brace for possible CP strike

Strike notice not yet given

Winnipeg | Reuters — Thousands of workers at Canada’s second-biggest railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, have threatened to strike this week, potentially disrupting the movement of grain, potash and coal at a time of soaring commodity prices. The strike is the latest risk to Canada’s battered supply chain, which last year weathered floods in British Columbia […] Read more

Chickpeas. (CalypsoArt/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse sector hails renewed trade talks with India

MarketsFarm — Canada and India have formerly relaunched trade negotiations that could lead to increased Canadian pulse exports to the country. Canada’s Trade Minister Mary Ng met with her Indian counterpart Shri Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on Friday to discuss economic relationships between the two countries. While highlighting existing trade relationships, the ministers also […] Read more



Drought conditions in Canada at Feb. 28, 2022. (Map courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Most of Prairies still very dry, but recovery possible

Southern Manitoba considered out of drought

MarketsFarm — Despite the Prairies receiving above-normal amounts of precipitation during February, the great majority of the region remained highly vulnerable to more dryness going into spring, according to the Canadian Drought Monitor. The monitor’s latest report showed those areas of the Prairies tackling extreme drought to have retracted somewhat. As of Feb. 28, that […] Read more


Screenshot from an Alberta Agriculture video profiling Innisfail-based pulse and grain handler W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions. (Alberta Agriculture and Forestry via YouTube)

W.A. Grain’s farmer suppliers to get 80 cents on dollar

CGC program to provide $5.6 million of $7.1 million owed

Farmers owed $7.1 million by W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions, which had facilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan, will get $5.6 million, or about 80 per cent of the money owed to them, via the Canadian Grain Commission’s (CGC) Safeguards for Grain Farmers Program. “While we regret producers didn’t get 100 per cent (of what they […] Read more

(4loops/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Manitoba growers hope timely rains follow snows

High N prices may favour pulse acres

MarketsFarm — As March 1 marked the start of meteorological spring, it feels like anything but that in southern Manitoba. One of the snowiest and coldest winters in years has been a mixed blessing for pulse growers, providing much-needed moisture for fields while also raising flood fears in some areas. Dennis Lange, a pulse specialist […] Read more