CME February 2024 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle collapse to March lows

Chicago February hogs set contract low

Chicago | Reuters — Cattle futures sank to their lowest levels in nearly eight months at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Friday on increased concerns about easing demand for U.S. beef. Technical selling accelerated the slide after funds recently liquidated long positions, traders said. “We don’t know what demand is going to be a year […] Read more

CBOT January 2024 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans fall as rain benefits top supplier Brazil

Most-active K.C. wheat reaches July 2021 low

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures tumbled on Friday under pressure from favourable rains in Brazil, the biggest global supplier, analysts said. The market has pulled back about five per cent since jumping last week to its highest price since August amid concerns over hot, dry weather reducing output in northern […] Read more


High schoolers from Iowa got hands-on journalism experience interviewing producers at Canadian Western Agribition. Pictured: Jake VanderHeiden, Hannah Grantz, and Katlin Truelsen, with Lexie Girodat of Rocking G Land and Cattle out of Gull Lake, Sask. (Becky Zimmer photo)

At Agribition: Iowa school group looks in on Prairie ag

Media program students, alumni gather participants' stories

Fresh faces and new blood were injected into the usual cadre of journalism veterans this week at Canadian Western Agribition. Students from Iowa’s CAC Media Group ventured to Regina for hands-on agricultural journalism experience. Hannah Grantz, Jake VanderHeiden and Katlin Truelsen, students from high schools across Clinton County in eastern Iowa, interviewed, photographed and videotaped […] Read more

Tan, a red border collie handled by Calin Duce of Cardston, Alta., at work in the ring. (Melissa Bezan photo)

At Agribition: Young dogs debut their new tricks

'These guys show up to work'

Ranchers and livestock producers at a Regina farm show got a demonstration of a potential solution to looming labour shortages: dogs. Dogs and their handlers competed at the seventh annual Cattle Dog Futurity and Maturity competitions and the International Stock Dog Trials held Thursday at Canadian Western Agribition. The futurity event featured dogs born between […] Read more


(Shaunl/E+/Getty Images)

Feds plan to ease Underused Housing Tax reporting load

New exemption also proposed for employee housing outside cities

Federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s latest Fall Economic Statement offers to take some of the reporting burden off certain farmers and other Canadians when filing for exemptions from the national Underused Housing Tax (UHT). The federal finance department on Nov. 16 posted its legislative and regulatory proposals for changes to the UHT online and has […] Read more

(Alkestida/iStock/Getty Images)

China’s COFCO says it imported Canadian durum for first time

China's imports usually involve pasta or durum flour instead

Beijing | Reuters — Chinese state-run food group COFCO Group said it had imported Canadian durum wheat for the first time for processing into flour, a departure from China’s usual practice of importing finished durum flour or pasta. “This direct import of durum wheat has enriched the structure of China’s imported wheat varieties, facilitated the […] Read more


(Lauri Patterson/E+/Getty Images)

CUSMA panel rejects U.S. complaint on access to Canada dairy market

Canada 'very pleased' with dispute settlement panel findings

Ottawa | Reuters — A trade dispute settlement panel set up under a major North American free trade agreement has rejected a U.S. complaint that Canada is improperly limiting access to its dairy market, an official report showed on Friday. The United States had accused Canada of not meeting obligations under the 2020 Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement […] Read more

Darren Wolchyn (at right), founder and CEO of Smart Paddock, receives the Innovation Award from Kevin Chung, director of innovation investments and programs at Innovation Saskatchewan, at the Canadian Animal Ag Tech Awards. (Lisa Guenther photo)

At Agribition: Livestock tech companies earn new spotlight

Canadian Animal Ag Tech Awards presented

Three companies were crowned winners at the first annual Canadian Animal Ag Tech Awards on Thursday during Canadian Western Agribition in Regina. The event spotlighted companies creating technology for the livestock industry, with products ranging from water sensors to artificial intelligence-powered monitoring systems. Australia’s Smart Paddock received the Innovation Award. The company’s GPS ear tags […] Read more


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Ottawa lines up with farmers on right-to-repair

Feds to call for owners to be able to repair their own equipment

The federal government says it’s siding with Canadian farmers on the right-to-repair debate. An announcement this week from the federal government called for an adjustment to the Competition Act that would prevent manufacturers from refusing to provide the means of device and product repair in an “anti-competitive manner.” That declaration came in the government’s 2023 […] Read more