File photo of cranes at the Port of Montreal. (Jean-Paul_Lejeune/iStock/Getty Images)

Ottawa urged to end Montreal longshoremen’s strike

Back-to-work legislation on table; NDP, Bloc oppose it

Montreal | Reuters — Dockworkers at Canada’s second-largest port on Monday began their second strike in less than a year, as business leaders urged Ottawa to quickly end a walkout they said could cost the economy $25 million a day. The federal Liberal government said Sunday it would introduce special legislation to end the strike […] Read more

Kyle Jeworski, Viterra’s CEO for North America, speaks in a December 2020 promotional video announcing the company’s worldwide rebranding. (Viterra video screengrab via YouTube)

Viterra plans major canola crusher for Regina

Expected capacity would make facility largest in world

Grain handler and processor Viterra is taking its plans to build the world’s biggest canola crusher to its Prairie home town. The North American arm of Rotterdam-based Viterra said Monday it’s in the “feasibility” stage of designing and finalizing plans for what it bills as the “world’s largest integrated canola crush facility” in the northeast […] Read more


(Canest-transit.ca)

Montreal longshore workers escalate strike

Strike to move from part-time to full-time on Monday

Exports of containerized crops and other goods and imports of ag inputs may stall as striking longshore workers at the Port of Montreal get set to level up from part-time to full-time work stoppage. The Syndicat des debardeurs du port de Montreal (CUPE Local 375) said Friday its members, who have been striking on weekends […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

More canola, less wheat expected ahead of StatsCan report

'Returns per acre are just so much stronger'

MarketsFarm — Canadian farmers are seen as likely to plant more canola and barley and less wheat this spring, as market participants await the first survey-based estimates from Statistics Canada on Tuesday to confirm the extent of that shift. “Canola will gain acres and wheat will lose acres,” said MarketsFarm Pro analyst Mike Jubinville, pointing […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prices taper off ahead of report

Feedlots 'not eating as much grain'

MarketsFarm — While prices for feed wheat and feed barley in Western Canada remain substantially higher than one year ago, the past month has seen slight declines. As of Wednesday, high-delivered bids for feed wheat were at least $7.25 per bushel, more than $1.50 higher than last year according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. However, over […] Read more

CBOT July 2021 corn with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy extend multi-year highs

Tightening global supply picture supportive; CBOT wheat also up

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures closed firm on Friday after rocketing to multi-year highs this week on tightening domestic and global supplies, traders said. As stocks from the 2020 harvest dwindle, dryness in Brazil and a U.S. cold spell raised doubts about prospects for the 2021 corn crops in the world’s […] Read more


A corn crop west of Grunthal, Man. on Aug. 17, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. grains: Corn highest since 2013

Soy tops US$15, wheat over US$7 on supply fears

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn, wheat and soybean futures hit multi-year highs on Thursday as concerns about tightening global grain supplies triggered short-covering and fund-driven buying, analysts said. Nearby Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed up their daily 25-cent limit (all figures US$). Front-month CBOT wheat rose above $7 a bushel and soybeans […] Read more

Excerpt from a digital rendition of Cargill’s proposed $350 million canola crushing plant proposed for the Regina area. (Image courtesy Cargill)

Cargill to crush canola at Regina

New plant to process up to one million tonnes per year

The Canadian arm of agrifood giant Cargill plans to further expand its reach in the Prairie canola market with a new crush plant at Regina and upgrades elsewhere. The company announced Thursday it would start construction on the $350 million plant “early next year” and expects to have it operating by early 2024, employing about […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

CP CEO rules out raising Kansas City Southern bid

CP's first-quarter profit climbs

Reuters — Canadian Pacific Railway CEO Keith Creel said Wednesday the company will not raise its bid for U.S. railroad Kansas City Southern, saying bigger rival Canadian National’s offer is “not a real deal.” The two bidding companies are locking horns to take control of a vast network of railways across North America, with CN […] Read more