Delivery vans from the Save-On-Foods grocery store chain wait for a police escort to cross through a landslide near Hope, B.C. on Nov. 18, 2021 to restock the local grocery store after rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the region. (Photo: Reuters/Jesse Winter)

Panicked shoppers clear out flood-hit B.C.’s grocery stores

Reuters — Shoppers in British Columbia have emptied grocery shelves following catastrophic flooding, although the shortages are as much down to panic buying as disrupted supply chains, industry associations said on Thursday. Even as flood waters start to recede, some parts of the province are expected to face to temporary shortages of dairy supplies, with […] Read more

File photo of a canola crop south of Ethelton, Sask. in 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Canada’s drought forces canola importers to turn elsewhere

'Importers...are going to be left out in the cold'

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s smallest canola harvest in 13 years, resulting from severe drought, is forcing importers like Japan and Mexico to pay more or scour other countries for the yellow-flowering oilseed. With the scant available Canadian canola fetching high prices, customers of the world’s biggest canola exporter are leaning more heavily on smaller-producing […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Federated Co-operatives looks to sell oil-producing business, keep refinery

Winnipeg | Reuters — Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL) put its oil production business up for sale this week, according to a marketing document obtained by Reuters, but the co-op said it plans to keep its Saskatchewan refinery. FCL spokesperson Cam Zimmer did not comment on the reason for offering to sell the production business but […] Read more

A sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to drought may force bakers to change how they work with flour.  Photo: DanielBendjy/E+/Getty Images

Millers, bakers fret as drought withers North America’s spring wheat

Reuters – Millers and bakers are draining wheat reserves and paying more for spring wheat used in baking, as drought shrivels crops across the Canadian Prairies and northern U.S. Plains that produce more than half of the world’s supply. U.S. and Canadian farmers are bracing for a sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to the […] Read more


(DarcyMaulsby/iStock/Getty Images)

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

Nutrien’s potash mine near Rocanville, Sask. (Nutrien.com)

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


Mosaic’s potash facility at Esterhazy, Sask. (Greg Berg photo)

Flood risk forces Mosaic to shut Esterhazy potash shaft

Company to restart Colonsay mine

Winnipeg | Reuters — Fertilizer producer Mosaic Co. said Friday it would immediately cut production at its biggest potash mine due to flood risks, and restart an idled mine to offset some of the reduction. Mosaic’s K1 and K2 mine shafts at Esterhazy, Sask., about 75 km southeast of Yorkton, have long been prone to […] Read more

Nutrien’s potash mine at Lanigan, Sask., about 100 km southeast of Saskatoon. (Nutrien.com)

New Nutrien CEO to carry out current strategy

Schmidt to focus on potash price over boosting sales

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian fertilizer and farm dealer Nutrien will continue its existing business strategy, including a focus on supporting global potash prices over maximizing sales, new CEO Mayo Schmidt said Tuesday. Surging prices of corn, soybeans and canola have given North American farmers more incentive to spend on fertilizer, lifting crop nutrient prices […] Read more


(Kansas City Southern video screengrab via YouTube)

Rail shippers pick sides as CP, CN bid for Kansas City Southern

Richardson, Conagra among firms supporting both bids

Winnipeg | Reuters — North America’s freight rail customers, from grain shippers to logistics companies, are choosing sides as Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway fight to buy Kansas City Southern. A takeout of KCS would be the first major North American railroad combination in more than 20 years and create the first network […] Read more

File photo of hogs in transit near Red Deer, Alta. (Stefonlinton/iStock/Getty Images)

Olymel shipping backlogged hogs to U.S.

Company-owned hogs to go south after COVID closes Red Deer plant

Winnipeg | Reuters — Olymel said Friday it was shipping pigs to the United States to help clear a backlog of hogs after it had to temporarily close its Red Deer, Alta. slaughter plant because of a coronavirus outbreak. Olymel shut the plant on Wednesday and declared force majeure — unforeseeable circumstances that prevent contract […] Read more