Keefer Terminal (foreground) at the Port of Thunder Bay. (PortOfThunderBay.ca)

Thunder Bay shipping season wraps up

MarketsFarm — The last vessel of the shipping season will depart the Port of Thunder Bay on Friday. Grain handling volumes were down on the year, but increases in other categories helped limit the overall reduction in movement through the northern Lake Superior port. The 2021 navigation season will come to a close with the […] Read more

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

Oat prices, acres to rise in 2022, analyst says

MarketsFarm — An independent crop market analyst told Saskatchewan oat growers he is bullish for the crop in 2022. Brennan Turner, founder and former CEO of online crop marketing platforms FarmLead and Combyne Ag, delivered a presentation at the Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission’s (SaskOats) annual general meeting in Saskatoon on Wednesday. Turner, a Foam Lake […] Read more


CBOT March 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy eases on outlook for rain on South American crops

Corn inches higher; CBOT wheat touches one-week low

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures slumped on Friday to their lowest price in more than a week under continued pressure from forecasts for rain in dry South American growing areas, analysts said. Soybean futures have retreated about three per cent since reaching July highs a week ago on concerns about […] Read more

CME February 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures rebound, slaughter pace still weak

CME February live cattle up

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures bounced back on Friday, though analysts said U.S. staffing shortages caused by COVID-19 infections continued to limit meat production. Most actively traded February lean hogs touched a one-week high and ended 3.05 cents stronger at 80.9 cents/lb. (all figures US$). The contract recovered after falling […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Stronger crop prospects, loonie lower bids

MGEX, K.C. wheat down on week

MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s projected increases for domestic and worldwide wheat ending stocks, along with a strengthening Canadian dollar, brought pressure onto western Canadian wheat bids for the week ended Thursday. In its monthly world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) report on Wednesday, USDA showed a projected 1.78 million-tonne rise in […] Read more

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

U.S. grains: Corn, soy sag on South America weather forecasts

Argentina rain outlook tempers crop fears

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures tumbled on Thursday on expectations that rains forecast for dry crop-growing areas of South America may limit harvest losses, traders said. Weather forecasts show parched areas of Argentina, the world’s top exporter of processed soy and No. 2 producer of corn, may receive significant rainfall from […] Read more


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

U.S. livestock: Hogs dip on concern over slower slaughter, heavier pigs

Feeder cattle up as feed grain prices drop

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures fell on Thursday amid concerns that a reduced pace of slaughtering is limiting demand for pigs that are growing heavier, analysts said. Slow slaughtering has weighed on hog and cattle futures because livestock back up on farms when they cannot be processed, traders said. Slaughtering […] Read more

Seeding in southwestern Manitoba in the spring of 2021. (Manitoba Co-operator file photo by Alexis Stockford)

Last year was world’s sixth-warmest on record, U.S. scientists say

Heat content of oceans at record level, NOAA says

Reuters — Last year ranked as the sixth-warmest year on record, causing extreme weather events around the world and adding to evidence supporting the globe’s long-term warming, according to an analysis on Thursday by two U.S. government agencies. The data compiled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA also revealed that […] Read more


Sea surface temperature anomalies over the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the week centred on Jan. 5, 2022. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

La Niña likely to continue into spring, U.S. forecaster says

Reuters — La Nina conditions are likely to continue during the Northern Hemisphere spring, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. The La Niña weather pattern, characterized by unusually cold temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, has a 67 per cent chance of persisting from March through May this year, the National Weather Service’s […] Read more

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)

Cross-border supply chains still may face disruptions from vaccine mandates

CLARIFIED, Jan. 13 — Ottawa/Washington | Reuters — COVID-19 vaccine requirements for foreign truckers at the U.S.-Canada border still could cause supply-chain disruptions if both countries do not decide to allow exemptions, the head of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said Thursday. Canadian truck drivers who aren’t vaccinated may enter Canada by right — but […] Read more