Alberta has expanded the pool of workers eligible for its pandemic-related Critical Worker Benefit to include farm workers starting Tuesday (June 22). The province announced Tuesday that eligibility for the $1,200 payments would expand to more categories of workers who “provided critical services to Albertans, were essential to the supply and movement of goods, and […] Read more
Farm workers qualify for Alberta’s ‘critical worker’ benefit
Employers can apply starting Tuesday
Potash partnership with BHP ‘not our focus,’ Nutrien executive says
Prices surging on rising demand, Belarus sanctions
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian potash producer Nutrien is not focused on any potential collaboration with miner BHP Group, a senior Nutrien executive said Tuesday in the company’s first public comments about reports of possible co-operation. BHP has for years been constructing a potash mine at Jansen, Sask., near Nutrien’s six mines in the province. […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Manitoba dry beans in good shape
MarketsFarm — Despite temperatures ranging from near-freezing lows to sweltering highs and receiving little precipitation, Manitoba’s dry edible bean crop has weathered the conditions well, according to the province’s pulse specialist. “We’ve had some interesting weather over the last week to two weeks,” Dennis Lange, pulse specialist for Manitoba Agriculture at Altona, said, referring to […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soy fall as Midwest rains seen boosting crop health
CBOT September wheat down, MGEX September wheat up
Chicago | Reuters — Forecasts for rain in the U.S. Midwest pushed corn and soybean futures lower on Tuesday, traders said. New-crop December corn, which tracks the crop that farmers will harvest in the fall, notched the biggest decline. The contract sagged 3.2 per cent as the storms are expected to provide a much-needed boost […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs firm after five days of declines
CME August live cattle, feeder cattle up
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures firmed on Tuesday, with the front-month contract snapping a five-session losing streak on some mild bargain-buying and short-covering, traders said. But concerns about waning export demand for U.S. supplies from China and Mexico kept the gains in check and hog futures remained near two-month lows. Mexico blocked […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market percolating higher
Weakness in feeder futures seen as temporary hiccup
Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were $1-$4 higher on average; calves were steady to $2 higher. Limited volume of calves under 600 lbs. made the market hard to define; however, strong demand was surfacing across all weight categories. The weaker Canadian dollar, along with stronger live cattle futures, set a positive tone. […] Read more
Britain begins negotiations to join Trans-Pacific pact
London | Reuters — Britain will begin negotiations on Tuesday to join a trans-Pacific trade deal that it sees as crucial to its post-Brexit pivot away from Europe and toward geographically more distant but faster-growing economies. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) removes 95 per cent of tariffs between its members: Japan, […] Read more
Canada, Indonesia launch trade pact talks
First round of negotiations expected later this year
Canada has formally declared it will start negotiations this year on a trade pact with Indonesia, a move ag exporters hope will stabilize and strengthen their market access to the Asia-Pacific region. Canada’s Trade Minister Mary Ng and her Indonesian counterpart Muhammad Lutfi on Sunday declared the launch of negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership […] Read more
Nutrien to further bump up potash output
'Continued tightening' in market cited as potash producer Belarus sanctioned
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien said Monday it would boost its 2021 potash output by 500,000 tonnes, after the European Union and others imposed new trade sanctions on Belarus. Nutrien’s increase takes its potash sales outlook this year to a record-high range of 13.3 million to 13.8 million tonnes, and follows a […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs drop on weaker pork, falling prices in China
Live cattle down with cash beef prices; feeder cattle up as corn eases
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell sharply on Monday, continuing a retreat from multi-year highs set earlier this month as cash pork prices dropped and worries increased about Chinese import demand for U.S. pork. Technical selling and profit-taking have sped the multi-session decline after the actively traded Chicago Mercantile Exchange August lean […] Read more
Canadian Cattlemen Presents: Depth of Field
