EU flags in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. (Jorisvo/iStock/Getty Images)

EU countries approve deal to overhaul farming subsidies

Subsidies to focus on sustainability, 'eco-schemes'

Brussels | Reuters — European Union countries on Monday gave the green light to reforms of the bloc’s huge farming subsidy program, after a three-year battle over rules to make it greener and support smaller farms. Negotiators representing the EU’s 27 countries and European Parliament struck the deal on Friday to reform the Common Agricultural […] Read more


CBOT December 2021 corn with 20- and 100-day moving averages (blue and dark green lines) and MGEX, CBOT and K.C. September 2021  wheats (black, yellow and orange lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: CBOT corn, soy, wheat rally as hot forecasts trump rains

MGEX September wheat also climbs

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn, soybeans and wheat rallied on Monday, with traders focused on forecasts for heat in the western U.S. Midwest that will quickly dry out soils in major production areas. “The forward forecasts have the heat that is presently over the Pacific Northwest to move over the western […] Read more

CME August 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines) and August 2021 live cattle (dark red open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures rally as China buys pork

Cattle futures, beef cutout values lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures rose three per cent on Monday, supported by rising demand as China moved to buy pork for its reserves to shore up the domestic market, traders said. China’s state planner said on Monday that central and local governments will start buying pork for state reserves to […] Read more


(Exceldor video screengrab via YouTube)

Strike ends at Exceldor poultry plant in Quebec

Union members vote to take six-year deal

A month-long strike at one of Quebec’s biggest poultry slaughter and processing plants is ending after unionized workers voted to accept a new agreement reached through mediation. About 500 unionized workers at Exceldor Co-operative’s plant at Saint-Anselme, about 30 km southeast of Quebec City, have been on strike since May 23. The previous contract between […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Drought sends bids higher

U.S. July wheat futures up on week

MarketsFarm — Mounting drought concerns in the spring wheat-growing regions of Canada and the U.S. saw Prairie cash bids post solid gains during the week ended Thursday. Average CWRS (13.5 per cent) wheat prices were up by $18-$21 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and […] Read more


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on June 25, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Parliament rises as farm succession bill passes

Manitoba MP's private member's bill clears Senate

With the possibility of a fall election looming, MPs rose from the House of Commons on Wednesday, marking the end to a parliamentary session featuring a handful of laws impacting agriculture. Brandon-Souris MP Larry Maguire saw his private member’s bill, aimed at lowering taxes on the sales of farms and other small businesses, pass in […] Read more

CME August 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines) and August 2021 live cattle (dark red open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures firm on technical buying

Cattle futures up ahead of USDA placements report

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures firmed on Friday, supported by technical buying after sagging to their lowest in nearly three months on Thursday, traders said. CME August hog futures, the most actively traded contract, ended up 1.075 cents at 99.775 cents (all figures US$). The wholesale U.S. pork carcass cutout price […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola, wheat acres in opposite trends before StatsCan report

'Every commodity was offering options that were profitable'

MarketsFarm — Just days prior to Statistics Canada issuing its latest survey-based crop acreage report on Tuesday next week, analysts are estimating a rise in canola acres at the expense of wheat. “Coming through the winter and towards spring seeding, we were looking at canola prices that were at their highest levels of all time,” […] Read more

CBOT December 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (yellow line) and MGEX, CBOT and K.C. September 2021 wheats (black, green and orange lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Court ruling, rains pressure corn, soy

CBOT wheat down, MGEX spring wheat up

Chicago | Reuters — Corn and soybean futures tumbled on Friday after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling bolstered a bid by small oil refineries seeking exemptions from laws requiring them to blend ethanol or other biofuels into their products, traders said. “Each time the markets start to stabilize, having priced in the latest round of […] Read more