CBOT January 2023 soybeans with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy firms on bargain buying but posts weekly decline

December wheat ends down, corn up

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rose on Friday on bargain buying after a two-session slide, but still ended the week down about one per cent on uncertainty about demand from China, traders said. Wheat futures turned lower, retreating from early advances, with the benchmark December contract on the Chicago Board of Trade declining […] Read more

Drought expands across western Prairies

Drought expands across western Prairies

MarketsFarm — Drought conditions expanded across Alberta and Saskatchewan in October, with very little precipitation across the agricultural regions of the two provinces since August. That’s according to the latest Canadian Drought Monitor from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as of Oct. 31. At the end of that month, 72 per cent of the Prairie region […] Read more


(Canyonos/iStock/Getty Images)

Olymel to exit lard business, shut plant

Packer's St. Hyacinthe facility to permanently close

Pork and poultry packer Olymel is set to close the further processing plant it operates in its home town in Quebec as it exits the lard production business. The company, an arm of ag co-operative Sollio, announced Thursday it will close its St. Jacques Street plant at St. Hyacinthe, Que. effective Feb. 10, affecting 107 […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids steady following Ukraine volatility

U.S. wheat futures up on week

MarketsFarm — A roller-coaster type of week for grain markets, fuelled by the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, ended with slightly higher bids for western Canadian wheat for the week ended Thursday. As optimism grew over the renewal of Russia’s agreement to allow Ukrainian grain shipments on the Black Sea, wheat futures on the […] Read more


(Diane Kuhl/iStock/Getty Images)

CUSMA compensation set for supply-managed sectors

Feds pledge over $1.7 billion in payments, programs

A final round of payments and programs for Canada’s supply-managed dairy and feather sectors — this time in compensation for the sequel deal to NAFTA — is now on deck for 2023 and beyond. Compensation to those sectors for domestic market concessions granted under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) was telegraphed in federal Finance Minister Chrystia […] Read more

File photo of steam rising from the top of a grain dryer. (Diane Kuhl/iStock/Getty Images)

New farm fuel carbon tax rule to return to Commons

Further carbon pricing exemptions clear ag committee, with sunset clause added

A bill that would exempt more farm fuels from Canada’s federal carbon pricing scheme has cleared the Commons’ ag committee and returned to the House of Commons to seek a third and final vote. C-234, a private member’s bill sponsored by southwestern Ontario Conservative MP Ben Lobb, appeared before the Commons’ standing committee on agriculture […] Read more


CME February 2023 live cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle up ahead of monthly USDA report

Lean hogs mostly up in technical trading

Chicago | Reuters — Benchmark live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) rose on Thursday for a third straight session on steady to firmer cash cattle markets and position-squaring a day ahead of a monthly U.S. government feedlot report, analysts said. Most-active CME February live cattle futures settled up 1.15 cents at 155.4 […] Read more

Grain ships carrying Ukrainian grain are seen in the Black Sea, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near Ukrainian port of Odesa, Ukraine Oct. 30, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Serhii Smolientsev)

Black Sea grain export deal extended

Deal's terms unchanged; Moscow to still seek removal of obstacles to grain, fertilizer exports

Reuters — A deal aimed at easing global food shortages by helping Ukraine export its agricultural products from Black Sea ports was extended for four months on Thursday, though Russia said its own demands were yet to be fully addressed. The agreement, initially reached in July, created a protected transit corridor and was designed to […] Read more


CBOT December 2022 soft red winter wheat (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (green line), MGEX December 2022 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. December 2022 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat sags on Black Sea export deal extension

Chicago corn turns higher

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures dropped to a 2-1/2-month low on Thursday after the United Nations announced an agreement to extend a grain corridor for exports from war-torn Ukraine. Soybean futures fell on worries about demand as top global buyer China struggles with COVID-19 lockdowns. But corn turned higher as strong weekly U.S. […] Read more