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



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

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


(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


Barley. (Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prairie prices remain strong

Exports, domestic use both up on year

MarketsFarm — Feed grain prices in Western Canada held steady during the first week of December as solid export demand from China continues to underpin the domestic feed market. “Demand has backed off a little bit for December. We’ve seen a flattening [of prices], but I think that’s just a step back for now,” said […] Read more



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

U.S. grains: Futures rebound on short covering, pre-report positioning

Wheat bounces from two-month low

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean and grain futures firmed on Wednesday in a short-covering rebound from prior session losses and as investors took positions ahead of a monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) supply and demand report on Thursday. Wheat, which hit a two-month low this week, posted the strongest advance, while improving crop […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Federal work/rest rules to be updated for railway workers

More clarifications coming, Teamsters say

A perennial sticking point in work stoppages and labour disputes at Canada’s two major railways is expected to be at least somewhat addressed within the next two and a half years. Federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau on Nov. 25 announced what’s billed as the first updates to the Duty/Rest Rules for Railway Operating Employees since […] Read more