MarketsFarm — There isn’t much movement in lentil prices as the market is in holiday mode, according to Dale McManus of Johnston Grains at Welwyn, Sask. “We’re doing two or three loads every second or third day, but not over-pushing it,” he said. Prices for lentils have been very steady this week. Lairds in Western […] Read more

Pulse weekly outlook: Lentils steady during holidays

U.S. EPA reviewing dicamba over crop damage claims
Chicago | Reuters –– The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is assessing whether dicamba herbicide can be sprayed safely on soybean and cotton plants genetically engineered to resist the chemical, without the procedure posing “unreasonable risks” to other crops, an agency official said Tuesday. Farmers and scientists for years have reported problems with dicamba drifting away […] Read more

Kellogg strike ends as workers approve new labour agreement
Reuters — Workers at Kellogg’s U.S. breakfast cereal plants voted in favour of a new contract that offers better terms for transitional employees and across-the-board wage increases, ending a weeks-long strike, the company said Tuesday. The five-year contract ends the stalemate between the Froot Loops maker and its factory workers in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and […] Read more

Klassen: Feeder market stabilizes after December surge
Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices traded $3-$4 on either side of unchanged. Small groups of various quality characterized sale volumes. There were a few packages of backgrounded yearlings that sold at decent levels. Finishing feedlots were fairly aggressive on groups in the 700- to 800-lb. category. Higher flesh levels have become […] Read more

Feds put up funds toward managing P.E.I. potato surplus
Ottawa budgets $28 million for distribution and disposal
Prince Edward Island potatoes locked out of the U.S. export market will go either to food banks or “environmentally-sound” disposal with new federal funding. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Monday announced $28 million “to support the diversion of surplus potatoes, including help to redirect surplus potatoes to organizations addressing food insecurity and support for […] Read more

Grain movement to Vancouver picking up
Railways seen recovering from B.C. damages faster than many had expected
Western grain movement to the Port of Vancouver was at 60 per cent of normal as of Dec. 15 and is expected to continually improve, Mark Hemmes, Canada’s grain monitor and president of Quorum Corp. said in an interview Wednesday. “I think by next week it’s going to look a lot better,” he said. “Is […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle, hog futures sag as broad selling hits markets
Crude, U.S. equities caught in sell-off
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange livestock futures slumped on Monday as traders reduced risk in the face of rising coronavirus cases, brokers said. Selling hit a range of markets including crude oil, which lost more than three per cent, and U.S. stocks. “The risk-off trade is back today,” said Dan Norcini, an independent […] Read more

AAFC adjusts grain, oilseed balance sheets slightly
MarketsFarm –– Updated supply and demand tables from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released late Friday, included only minor adjustments to balance sheets for the country’s major crops. The department’s projected ending stocks for wheat and canola were left unchanged from the previous month. Factoring in the official estimates from Statistics Canada, released Dec. 3, […] Read more

Vena withdraws as candidate for CN CEO role
Reuters — Canadian National Railway said on Monday Jim Vena, who was backed by a group of investors to lead the country’s largest railway operator, had pulled out of the running to serve as its new chief. Shares of CN fell as much as 6.5 per cent on the news. The former Union Pacific executive […] Read more

U.S. grains: Winter wheat futures rise on demand, crop woes
CBOT soybeans up, corn down
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. winter wheat futures rose on Monday on global demand and concerns about poor crop weather in America’s Plains region, while concerns about unfavourable dryness in parts of South America helped lift U.S. soy futures, analysts said. Traders focused on weather conditions after crop observers in Kansas said hurricane-force winds that […] Read more