(CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Canada, Mexico urge quick NAFTA talks to end uncertainty

Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — Top Canadian and Mexican diplomats expressed optimism on Thursday that a NAFTA deal could be reached early next year and cautioned that widespread uncertainty over the future of the three-way trade agreement had slowed business investment. Mexican sources say the plan is to hold seven rounds of talks at three-week intervals, […] Read more

Farmers Dennis Reimer (l) and Charles Schmidt, looking for rain. (Lee Hart photo)

AIM for Hart: An informative first day

It’s official. If you want your province to dry out call Charles Schmidt. This climatological fact was among the many things I learned at the first day of the 2017 Ag In Motion (AIM) farm show near Langham, Sask. Tuesday (about 20 minutes from Saskatoon — the show is still running Wednesday and Thursday, so […] Read more



Southern Saskatchewan dry, but Prairies mostly OK for now

CNS Canada — Dry conditions in southern Saskatchewan are cause for vigilance, but rain could still pull out a healthy harvest, according to a provincial soil and nutrient specialist. The area of concern lies within a triangle shape, with the northern tip at Saskatoon, one arm stretching southeast to Weyburn, Estevan and the U.S. border, […] Read more



Japan’s Imperial Palace and Nijubashi Bridge, in Tokyo. (CIA.gov)

EU, Japan officials seal trade agreement

Brussels | Reuters — Japan and the European Union should agree on Thursday to a free trade pact that could be completed within months, after senior officials removed final snags to a political deal intended as a signal to U.S. President Donald Trump. “We ironed out the few remaining differences,” European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom […] Read more


(Lentils.ca)

Pulse exporters get India exemption, no penalties attached

CNS Canada — Canadian pulse exports to India have been given the green light, at least for the short term, temporarily heading off fears of higher fumigation charges or being shut out of the country completely. The federal government announced Wednesday that India has granted another exemption to allow Canadian pulse exporters to access that […] Read more

On board: Gary Stanford, Trent Rude, Jean-Marc Ruest, Harvey Brooks, Kevin Bender (back, l-r), Brent Watchorn, Cigi CEO JoAnne Buth, Drew Baker, Bill Gehl and Jim Smolik (front, l-r). (Photo courtesy Cigi)

Prairie wheat commissions, grain firms to fund Cigi

The technical institute for Canadian field crops will get its core funding from now on through the Prairies’ major grain export firms and its three provincial wheat grower commissions. Cigi, the Canadian International Grains Institute, on Tuesday announced the new funding model, plus a new governance model setting up a new 10-member board of directors […] Read more



(Photo courtesy BASF SE)

BASF ready to snatch seed bargains as rivals sell assets

Ludwigshafen, Germany | Reuters — BASF will consider buying seed assets that rivals are putting on the block to win antitrust approval for tie-ups, saying bargain prices could persuade BASF to overcome its traditional reluctance to expand into the seeds industry. Sources familiar with BASF’s thinking have said that competition regulators looking at potential buyers […] Read more