(SimonSkafar/iStock/Getty Images)

Some U.S. ethanol producers cut production to sell natural gas for profit

New York | Reuters — Sky-high U.S. natural gas prices have prompted some Midwestern ethanol producers to reduce processing in the last week, hoping instead to sell off some of their natural gas to take advantage of current high spot prices caused by the spike in cold weather, industry sources said. Ethanol margins in the[...]
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CBOT March 2021 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat climbs to one-week high on frigid U.S. weather

Corn, soy futures follow firm trend

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures climbed to a one-week high on Tuesday, rising more than three per cent on fears that frigid temperatures in the bread basket of the U.S. Plains may have damaged winter wheat, analysts said. Corn and soybean futures followed the firm trend, with a strong U.S. soy-crushing pace and[...]
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(Dave Bedard photo)

Funds add to net longs in canola, U.S. futures

MarketsFarm — The large managed-money net long positions in soybean, corn and canola futures increased during the week ended Tuesday, according to the latest commitment of traders (CoT) report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Managed money fund traders were holding a net long position in ICE Futures canola of 43,967 contracts as[...]
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An ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer plant in Russia. (Saoirse_2010/iStock/Getty Images)

High fertilizer prices likely to climb more

MarketsFarm — Expect fertilizer prices to resume increasing, despite having fallen back recently. Prices began their sharp rise around the middle of December and beginning of January. “They will go higher as demand goes up at seeding time,” Mike Jubinville of MarketsFarm Pro in Winnipeg said. Jubinville reported urea prices have jumped $100 per tonne[...]
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K.C. April 2021 hard red winter wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Weather worries push wheat futures higher

Soybeans firm, corn slips

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose on Friday, supported by concerns that arctic temperatures in key growing areas could damage the dormant crop during the weekend, traders said. “Cold temperatures, chiefly domestically, lesser so abroad, will keep the wheat trade watching winterkill prospects over the weekend,” Matt Zeller, director of market information at[...]
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John Deere says its new line of heavy harrows features a quick folding and unfolding sequence to help farmers move more quickly between fields. (Deere.com)

Degelman to make heavy harrows for Deere

Regina company reaches OEM agreement for new line

Major U.S. farm equipment manufacturer John Deere Co. has launched a new line of heavy harrows — and is going to Saskatchewan to get them. Regina equipment maker Degelman Industries announced Tuesday it has reached an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) agreement to provide Deere with a line of three heavy harrow models, the HH50, HH70[...]
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(File photo by Dave Bedard)

German cabinet approves legislation to ban glyphosate from 2024

Law would still need parliamentary approval

Berlin | Reuters — Farmers in Germany will have to gradually reduce their use of glyphosate and stop using it completely from 2024 in order to preserve clean habitats for insects, under draft legislation passed by the country’s cabinet on Wednesday. “The exit from glyphosate is coming. Conservationists have been working toward this for a[...]
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Cash-strapped pot producers raise billions in market rally

Cannabis firms seen as down in the weeds until recent surge

Reuters — A political shift in the United States has unlocked an estimated US$1.38 billion jackpot for struggling pot producers who have cashed in on a surge in their shares since President Joe Biden’s election in November. Cannabis producers have issued stock worth this amount in the first five weeks of 2021, investment firm Viridian[...]
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