K.C. July 2023 hard red winter wheat with 20-day moving average and Minneapolis July 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line). (Barchart)

Prairie cash wheat: U.S. futures lift spring wheat bids

Durum prices down on week

MarketsFarm — Western Canadian spring wheat bids were the beneficiaries of rising U.S. futures prices for the week ended Thursday. Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) were under pressure early in the week due to healthy yet ineffective rains over wheat-growing areas in the U.S. The U.S. Department of Agriculture raised the […] Read more

A smoke column rises from a wildfire on May 4, 2023 near Lodgepole, Alta., about 30 km southwest of Drayton Valley. (Photo: Alberta Wildfire handout via Reuters)

Fire and floods across Western Canada force evacuations

Western Alberta towns of Edson, Drayton Valley ordered to evacuate

Reuters — A week of record-hot weather in Western Canada has forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes, as wildfires rage in parts of Alberta and rapid snow melt triggers flooding across interior British Columbia. By Friday, more than 13,000 people were under evacuation orders in Alberta. As of late Friday afternoon, 91 fires […] Read more


CBOT July 2023 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago grains end week up as no new Black Sea ships authorized

Markets also have eye toward U.S. crop report

Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago grains and soy ended the week higher on Friday as hopes dimmed for the renewal of a U.N.-brokered deal allowing the safe Black Sea exports of Ukraine grain. Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations failed to reach an agreement to authorize any new vessels to carry out Black […] Read more

CME June 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Weak pork demand knocks lean hogs to contract lows

June live cattle up; feeder cattle down

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures sank to contract lows on Friday on concerns over anemic U.S. demand for pork, analysts said. The dramatic price decline fueled projections among traders that hog farmers may reduce their herds, after losing money for months on each pig they raise. Farmers are grappling with […] Read more


Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA’s logo on a tower in Jundiai, northwest of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil, on June 1, 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Paulo Whitaker)

JBS opens cleaning unit after outside firm fined for hiring kids

Company says has cut ties to cleaning contractor

Chicago | Reuters — JBS USA, one of the biggest U.S. meatpackers, is creating an internal company to clean some of its processing plants after a private sanitation firm it employed was accused of hiring children for dangerous work. The launch shows the complexities involved in replacing Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), a firm that […] Read more

File photo of goats on display at the Hanover Agricultural Fair in Grunthal, Man. in August 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Fairs, exhibitions concerned over new traceability proposals

Event volunteers may lack skills needed, association says

The Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions (CAFE) says proposed federal regulations regarding livestock traceability are putting animal events across the country at risk. Their concerns centre around new directives centred around moving and tagging which they say would affect Canada’s 5,000 fairs, rodeos and other events. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has proposed that […] Read more


CME August 2023 feeder cattle with 10-, 20- and 30-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle stumble to three-week low

June live cattle, lean hogs also lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures slumped to their lowest price in more than three weeks on Thursday, while live cattle futures also eased. Traders said the markets were overbought and pressured by technical selling and long liquidation, after feeder cattle set contract highs last month and front-month live cattle futures […] Read more

Photo: File

Feed weekly outlook: Futures pressure Canadian prices

Some buyers still seeking coverage

MarketsFarm — Prices for feed grains in Western Canada continue to ease off, but seasonal activity isn’t the only reason contributing to the declines. Erin Harakal, trade manager at Agfinity Inc. at Stony Plain, Alta., said futures markets are also playing their part in pressuring feed grain prices. “Especially with the wheat markets due to […] Read more


CBOT July 2023 soft red winter wheat with Bollinger bands (20,2), Minneapolis July 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. July 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago wheat up on Black Sea deal doubts

Cancelled China sales weigh on corn prices

Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago wheat hit a one-week high and closed up on Thursday as markets cautiously eye developments on the Black Sea grains corridor following a wave of fresh tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Corn clawed back some ground lost early in the day to close nearly flat after news of cancelled […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Mosaic misses profit estimates on lower prices of fertilizers

Farmers seen waiting on prices to stabilize

Reuters — Mosaic Co. on Wednesday missed Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit on lower prices of potash and other crop fertilizers, even as the fertilizer maker sold higher volumes. Although prices of fertilizers such as phosphates and potash decreased during the reported quarter, it did not boost demand as farmers waited for pricing trends […] Read more