Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, with Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna (l) and Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault (r), speaks at the Dominion Arboretum in Ottawa on Dec. 11, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

New greening programs planned for ag alongside carbon tax hike

Carbon price to hit $170 per tonne by 2030

A new federal climate plan which further cranks up taxes on carbon emissions also includes pledges of new programs to help sink more carbon into farmland. The government on Friday released the sequel to its 2016 Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change — a “strengthened” climate plan, titled A Healthy Environment and a […] Read more

File photo of uncooked chicken wings. (Mimadeo/iStock/Getty Images)

COVID outbreak shuts Nova Scotia poultry plant

Province closes Eden Valley for at least two weeks

Provincial officials have temporarily shut a chicken and turkey slaughter and processing plant in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, citing recent cases of COVID-19 among employees. Eden Valley Poultry’s processing plant at Berwick will be closed “for at least two weeks,” the provincial health department said in a release Friday. “We know this will be a […] Read more



CBOT March 2021 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat soars as Russia eyes export curbs

Tightening supplies underpin corn, soybeans

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures surged on Friday on concerns about thinning global supplies after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) slashed its grain stocks outlook and as top supplier Russia pondered export curbs. Corn and soy futures also rose as tightening supplies, particularly of soybeans, and lingering concerns about South American crops […] Read more


CME February 2021 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle rise on technical and bargain buying

CME lean hog futures sink

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures advanced for a third straight session on Friday supported by technical and bargain buying and as strong packer margins were seen potentially keeping a floor under cash cattle prices. Futures rose despite some demand concerns as soaring U.S. coronavirus rates triggered lockdowns that impact restaurant traffic, and […] Read more

CBOT March 2021 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy retreat as USDA’s supply cuts disappoint

Renewed talk of Russian export curbs supports wheat

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures turned lower on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) trimmed its soybean supply outlook by less than expected and left its corn stocks view unchanged in an monthly report. Wheat futures pulled back from early highs on spillover pressure from retreating corn and soybeans, […] Read more


CME February 2021 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle advance in bargain-buying bounce

CME lean hogs drop

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures firmed for a second straight day on Thursday on bargain buying and speculative buying after prices hit 2-1/2 week lows earlier this week. Futures firmed despite lower cash cattle prices and tumbling beef prices as packer demand held stable and processing margins remained profitable. “With the early […] Read more

(Qingwa/iStock/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Some surprises in USDA’s WASDE

MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has thrown a few curveballs in an otherwise mundane supply-and-demand report issued Thursday, according to broker Ryan Ettner of Allendale Inc. at McHenry, Ill. Although USDA, in its December world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE), lowered soybean ending stocks for the 2020-21 marketing year, the cut wasn’t […] Read more


In this photo from Mike Cowbrough’s October 2019 Pest Patrol column in Country Guide, light-green waterhemp plants approach the top of a soybean canopy after two ineffective applications of glyphosate. (Supplied photo)

Group 27 herbicide resistance arrives in Canada

Mesotrione-resistant waterhemp confirmed in Quebec

A persistent and fiercely competitive weed that has developed resistance to several herbicide groups since its arrival in Canada is now the first in the country to fight off a Group 27 product. Quebec’s Reseau d’avertissement phytosanitaire (RAP) last Friday reported a patch of waterhemp with resistance to mesotrione herbicide in the Haut-Richelieu municipality, in […] Read more

Minks at a farm near Soroe in Denmark on Nov. 5, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen)

Minks, staff positive for COVID-19 at B.C. mink farm

Coronavirus found in eight workers, five mink so far

A mink farm in southwestern British Columbia’s Fraser Valley is now under provincial veterinary quarantine and its staff self-isolating after several animals and workers tested positive for COVID-19. Fraser Valley Health, the regional health authority for the area, on Sunday declared an outbreak at the farm after eight workers tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus […] Read more