CME August 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, dark red and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle fall with equities

Concerns remain over U.S. consumer demand

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle and feeder cattle futures dropped on Wednesday as traders reduced risk amid steep losses in the stock market, analysts said. Lean hog futures strengthened at the CME. Cattle futures are more sensitive than hogs to falling stock prices, said Dan Norcini, an independent livestock trader. Wall […] Read more

(Xinzheng/Getty Images)

China lifts block on Canadian grain firms’ canola exports

Canola from Richardson, Viterra again allowed, officials report

Officials say China has reinstated market access for two major grain firms whose exports of Canadian canola have been blocked from Chinese ports since 2019. Canada’s Trade Minister Mary Ng and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, in a joint statement Wednesday, confirmed the decision by Chinese customs officials allowing Richardson International and Viterra to resume canola […] Read more



A hemp plant in Alberta. (Jennifer Blair photo)

Regulations, versatility pull hemp in different directions in West

Crop 'still struggling with reaching its full potential'

MarketsFarm — Accounting for 60 per cent of Canada’s 1,100 cultivation licenses as of 2020, according to Health Canada, Western Canada is the country’s most important region when it comes to hemp production. But while there are more products on store shelves, more cultivars than ever before and high prices for the crop, demand for […] Read more


File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Still early in season to switch crops

Decisions likely in next couple of weeks

MarketsFarm — With dry conditions dominating western and southwestern Saskatchewan and wet conditions prominent in the province’s east and northeast, at mid-May it remained early to consider switching pulse crops to something else, according to Carl Potts, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. Overall, he said, spring planting throughout the province as of May 9 […] Read more

CBOT July 2022 wheat (candlesticks) with 20- and 50-day moving averages (green and black lines), MGEX July 2022 spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. July 2022 hard red wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago wheat firm as worries about global supplies remain

Corn retreats, soybeans also firm

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures rallied on Tuesday, even after India said it would allow overseas wheat shipments awaiting customs clearance, as traders focused on an unrelenting question roiling global prices: Where will the world get its grain? The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) dipped early in the […] Read more


CME July 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and dark red lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs extend recovery from recent slide

Live cattle, feeder cattle lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rose for a third consecutive session on Tuesday as the market continued to recover from oversold conditions, traders said. Live cattle and feeder cattle futures ended lower. Short-covering helped propel hog futures higher following recent declines, said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne. The market […] Read more

Flea beetles in canola seedlings. (Canola Council of Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

Eastern Prairies’ wet conditions may curb insect pest risk

Late-seeded crops may germinate more quickly in warmer soils

MarketsFarm — If there could be one benefit to the excessive moisture across much of southern Manitoba and the Interlake region, that would be a potentially reduced risk for insect pests, according to John Gavloski, entomologist for Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Resource Development. For example, Gavloski cited flea beetles, which could damage canola. “If [canola] […] Read more


A sign with McDonald’s golden-arches logo is on display near one of the chain’s restaurants in Moscow on May 16, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina)

Golden arches to go dark in Russia as McDonald’s exits after 30 years

Russia, Ukraine form nine per cent of chain's revenue

Reuters — McDonald’s Corp. on Monday became one of the biggest global brands to exit Russia, laying out plans to sell all its restaurants after operating in the country for more than 30 years following the invasion of Ukraine. The world’s largest burger chain, which owns about 84 per cent of its nearly 850 restaurants […] Read more

(DimaSobko/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. eyes baby formula imports amid nationwide shortage

About 40 per cent of formula products out of stock in U.S.

Washington | Reuters — U.S. health regulators will announce action on baby formula imports as soon as Monday to address a nationwide shortage that has left parents scrambling to feed their babies, the Food and Drug Administration’s chief said. FDA commissioner Robert Califf provided no details, but President Joe Biden said last week he was […] Read more