
Canadian canola crush hit record in 2023: StatCan
Oilseed processors in Canada crushed a record amount of canola during the 2023 calendar year, according to a report from Statistics Canada released March 13.

Polish farmers backtrack on unblocking Ukraine border crossing, PAP reports
Protesting farmers say they will block Slovakia border against Ukrainian, Russian goods until end of month
Polish farmers increased the number of trucks they let through the Dorohusk border crossing with Ukraine on Wednesday but backpedaled on a promise to unblock it completely, state news agency PAP reported on Wednesday.

Bird flu strain raises alarm as virus kills South American wildlife
Mammal-to-mammal transmission of virus likely but unconfirmed, scientists say
The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus has spread more aggressively than ever before in wild birds and marine mammals since arriving in South America in 2022, raising the risk of it evolving into a bigger threat to humans, according to interviews with eight scientists.

Prairie forecast: Very warm west, mild but a little unsettled east
Issued March 13, covering March 13 to 20
The cold weather has also been replaced by above average temperatures. The question I have been hearing the most is--has spring arrived or is there still a bit of winter left to be felt?

U.S. cattle: Cattle futures bounce higher on technical trading, hogs mixed
Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures firmed on Tuesday, amid a flurry of technical trading, weakness in corn futures Cv1 and strength in the wholesale beef pricing, market analysts said.

U.S. grains: Soybeans, wheat rise on technical trading, poor Brazilian weather
Chicago Board of Trade wheat and soybean futures all turned higher on Tuesday as a stubbornly bearish market gained support from weather issues in Brazil and a flurry of short covering as funds shift out of their huge net short positions.

Below-normal spring runoff for most of Saskatchewan
Most of Saskatchewan will experience below-normal to well below-normal levels of runoff in 2024, according to the provincial Water Security Agency's Spring Runoff Forecast for 2024, released March 12.

Klassen: Yearling price trend stalls while calves ratchet higher
Larger players aggressively securing lightweight calves on expectations of low yearling supplies
Western Canadian feedlots are carrying sufficient numbers for the time being and feeding margins remain deep in red ink on unhedged cattle. Secondly, carcass weights are sharply above year-ago levels and Alberta finishing lots are backed up with market-ready supplies.

Canadian pulse plantings to rise in 2024
Canadian lentil area is forecast to be up by 4.4 per cent on the year, at 3.829 million acres, according to the estimates of principal field crops report released by Statistics Canada on March 11. After conducting a survey of producers in December and Janyar, StatCan forecast pea area in 2024 at 3.122 million acres which would be up by 2.4 per cent on the year.

EU countries to demand bloc does more to help farmers, draft statement says
Reductions in farm inspections, exemptions for small farms under consideration
European Union country leaders will urge the EU to work quickly on more measures to support farmers in response to months of protests by angry agriculture workers, draft conclusions for an EU leaders' summit showed.