
U.S. grains: Soybeans rally as crop conditions drop, soyoil prices rise
Hot weather forecast for heart of Midwest farm belt
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rallied on Tuesday on eroding Midwest crop conditions and improving export demand, and as soyoil prices rose another three per cent amid further gains in crude oil markets. Corn futures also climbed on deteriorating crop conditions across the heart of the farm belt. Wheat ended lower, though spillover […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures post new highs, end mixed
Hogs down on supply outlook
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rallied to contract highs on Tuesday but ended mixed, with nearby contracts pressured by ideas that beef prices are topping out after a surge to nearly 15-month highs, traders said. Deferred live cattle contracts, however, were higher on the day on concerns about tight cattle […] Read more

Olymel’s striking Quebec workers get layoff ultimatum
Hog slaughter plant idle since late April
Updated — The threat of job losses for about half the unionized workers at a major pork packing plant in Quebec is its owners’ latest bid to end a four-month strike. Olymel announced Tuesday it will “abolish” the evening shift at its hog slaughter and processing plant at Vallee-Jonction, about 60 km southeast of Quebec […] Read more

Time for arbitration in Olymel strike, PQ says
Province's new mediator not enough, party says
Quebec’s third opposition party is calling on the province’s CAQ government to propose arbitration for an end to a strike at a major pork slaughter plant. The Parti Quebecois’ ag critic, Matane-Matapedia MNA Pascal Berube, and its labour critic, Jonquiere MNA Sylvain Gaudreault, made the pitch Friday, after workers from Olymel’s plant at Vallee-Jonction voted […] Read more

StatsCan sees higher cattle, hog inventories at July 1
Full impacts of West's drought not yet counted
Nationwide head counts of livestock from the “early stages” of Western Canada’s ongoing drought won’t yet show the weather’s full impact, but showed slightly larger herds heading into this summer compared to last year. Statistics Canada on Monday reported the first year-over-year increase in the size of the country’s cattle herd as of July 1 […] Read more

Tax, competition expected to prolong Russian wheat export season
Tax complicates forward sales for exporters
Moscow | Reuters — Exports of Russian wheat will stretch well into the second half of the season as Moscow’s export tax and tough competition with Ukraine and Romania slow sales until the end of 2021, traders and analysts said. Russia, the world’s largest exporter of wheat, generally sells most of its crop during the […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans, wheat gain in commodities rebound
Biofuel worries cap corn
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures firmed on Monday in a modest recovery from last week’s two-month low as crude oil markets rebounded and lifted soyoil prices more than three per cent, traders said. Wheat also gained as the U.S. dollar softened and as weekly export inspections topped trade expectations. Corn was flat to […] Read more

Deere lifts 2021 forecast on solid equipment demand
Reuters — Deere and Co. on Friday raised its full-year earnings forecast after quarterly profit topped Wall Street estimates on the back of strong demand for farm and construction equipment. The world’s largest farm equipment manufacturer now expects net income in fiscal 2021 to be between $5.7 billion and $5.9 billion, up from a range […] Read more

Cannabis firms catch whiff of opportunity in Brazil
Canadian producers among those now supplying Brazilian market
Sao Paulo | Reuters — International cannabis companies are showing interest in Brazil, both its large consumer market for medicinal products and a proposal that could legalize planting of the crop. Major producers such as Colombia’s Clever Leaves and Canada’s Canopy Growth are developing and selling medicinal cannabis products to a Brazilian consumer segment estimated […] Read more

Prairie cash wheat: Big jump for durum
U.S. futures, lower loonie supportive for cash wheat bids
MarketsFarm — Wheat bids in Western Canada for the week ended Thursday were higher for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheats, while there were sharp increases for Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD). Gains in U.S. wheat markets supported values, as did a steep drop for the Canadian dollar. Average […] Read more