CME April 2022 live cattle with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle firm on strong beef demand

Hogs up on tighter supplies

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures firmed on Monday, supported by strong beef demand and slaughter, analysts said. “The next few months — late March, early April — slaughter-ready cattle are a little tighter,” said Austin Schroeder, commodity analyst at Brugler Marketing. “That might help to lend a little more support […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Link broken in glyphosate supply chain, Bayer says

Company provides heads-up on 'force majeure event'

No one is yet using the word ‘shortage’ but farmers may need to get ready for less Roundup temporarily, following a “force majeure” event at a plant supplying an ingredient in the recipe for glyphosate. Bayer, the chemical company whose Roundup brand remains the best known of the glyphosate herbicides, reported as much in an […] Read more


File photo of chicks on a genetic map of a chicken. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Second Nova Scotia poultry operation hit with avian flu

U.S. also books outbreaks in two states

A second farm in western Nova Scotia has been hit with highly pathogenic avian influenza in commercial birds, further expanding containment measures in that province. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Monday it confirmed high-path H5N1 on Wednesday last week in birds at a mixed farm in the area, where operations include poultry and poultry […] Read more

A man and a child ride away from a protest site at Windsor, Ont. on Feb. 12, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Osorio)

Windsor-Detroit trade corridor reopens after police clear protesters

Prairie premiers oppose use of Emergencies Act

Windsor/Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — North America’s busiest trade link reopened for traffic late Sunday evening, ending a six-day blockade, the Canada Border Services Agency said, after Canadian police cleared the protesters fighting to end COVID-19 restrictions. Canadian police made several arrests on Sunday and cleared protesters and vehicles that occupied the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, […] Read more


A man reacts as protestors continue blocking access to the Ambassador Bridge at Windsor, Ont. on the evening of Feb. 11, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Carlos Osorio)

Farm and agrifood groups press for clear border crossings

Injunction granted to clear Ambassador Bridge blockade

Groups representing Canada’s farm and agrifood sectors want to see an “immediate” end to multiple border blockades thrown up in recent weeks by protestors in three provinces — while the auto sector has secured a court order that one blockade be taken down. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, […] Read more

CBOT March 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, dark green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy rises on South American crop woes

Wheat, corn futures rally

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Friday on diminishing harvest estimates in South America, though trading remained volatile a day after prices reached a nine-month high, analysts said. Corn and wheat futures jumped on increased concerns that Russia may invade Ukraine and disrupt grain shipments from the Black Sea […] Read more


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

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle retreat on profit-taking

Hog futures lower despite rising cutout

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures weakened on Friday as the market retreated from contract highs hit this week. Profit-taking weighed on futures prices, though the market remains supported by strong demand for cattle from meatpackers, traders said. Packers such as Tyson Foods and JBS slaughtered an estimated 120,000 cattle on […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids rally on tightening supplies, drought

U.S. March wheat futures gain on week

MarketsFarm — New supply data from both sides of the Canada/U.S. border, as well as ongoing drought in wheat growing regions, have supported western Canadian wheat bids for the week ended Thursday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its monthly supply/demand estimates on Wednesday and cut its projected global wheat supply estimate for the 2021-22 […] Read more


File photo of a view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. urges Canada to use federal powers to ease border protest disruption

Disruptions force automakers to reduce operations

Windsor/Washington | Reuters — Canada should use federal powers to ease the growing economic disruption caused by the blockage of a vital U.S.-Canada trade route by protesters opposed to coronavirus mandates, U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said on Thursday. The closure of the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest international land border crossing and a vital […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

CP conductors, engineers taking strike vote

Teamster-led workers' deal expired at end of 2021

Unionized conductors, engineers, trainmen and yardmen for Canadian Pacific Railway are getting their ballots for a strike vote this month, as contract talks have again wound up in dispute. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP employees in those categories, said strike ballots were being distributed to members starting Feb. 1, […] Read more