The White Pass border crossing between Alaska and northwestern British Columbia, about 25 km north of Skagway, Alaska. The proposed A2A line would largely skirt B.C. en route from Alberta to Alaska. (Thierry64/iStock/Getty Images)

Trump-backed Canadian railway to Alaska faces high hurdles

Proponents say line could move grain, fertilizer as well as oil

Winnipeg/Washington | Reuters — A private-sector proposal endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump to build a railway from Canada’s oil sands to ports in Alaska would free landlocked crude but faces numerous steep challenges. Trump wrote on Twitter over the weekend that he would issue a permit for the Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation (A2A Rail) […] Read more

File photo of rye at a grain market in India. (Deepak Sethi/E+/Getty Images)

India’s controversial farm bills become law despite protests

New Delhi | Reuters — India’s president on Sunday approved three controversial agricultural bills amid nationwide protests by farmers who say the new laws will stunt their bargaining power and instead allow large retailers to have control over pricing. Farmers’ organizations say one of the three laws could lead to the government stopping buying grain […] Read more


Grain being loaded on a ship at the Hudson Bay port of Churchill in 2015. (MarketsFarm photo by Jade Markus)

First of four vessels arrives in Churchill

MarketsFarm — The first grain vessel of the 2020 shipping season is now at Manitoba’s northern Port of Churchill, according to Murad Al-Katib of the Arctic Gateway Group. “We’ll have an active program on durum wheat and lentils going into the Mediterranean,” said Al-Katib, who’s also CEO of Regina-based AGT Foods, one of the group’s […] Read more

(Country Guide file photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids mixed, reacting to futures and loonie

MarketsFarm — Spring wheat bids in Western Canada were mixed during the week ended Thursday, as losses in U.S. futures were countered by support from a weakening Canadian dollar. The currency lost roughly a full cent during the week. Average Canada Western Red Spring (13.5 per cent protein) wheat prices were steady to down $2 […] Read more


One Canada Square (tower at centre) houses the London head office of the International Grains Council. (Iliffd/iStock/Getty Images)

Little variation seen in global grain supply and demand data

MarketsFarm — Few significant changes appear in the latest monthly supply and demand report from the International Grains Council (IGC), which released its estimates Thursday. The IGC slightly nudged its estimate of total world grain production from its August estimate of 2.23 billion to September’s 2.227 billion tonnes. The September forecast is 2.1 per cent […] Read more

Wheat being loaded onto a cargo ship in Vancouver in 2011. (File photo: Reuters/Ben Nelms)

AAFC lowers wheat carryout estimate, raises canola

MarketsFarm — Updated supply and demand estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada call for tighter wheat carryout for the 2020-21 crop year than previous forecast — and more canola. Tursday’s report provides the first adjusted balance sheet estimates from the government agency that account for the latest production numbers from Statistics Canada released earlier in […] Read more


CBOT December 2020 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy firm after four days of losses

Chicago wheat futures weak

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures rose on Friday, bouncing back from four straight days of declines on a mild round of bargain buying, traders said. But wheat futures weakened, weighed down by a firm dollar, which makes U.S. supplies more expensive to overseas buyers. Soybeans fell 4.1 per […] Read more

(Lentils.ca)

India restores reduced tariff on lentil imports

All but U.S. lentil imports to get better break on duty, again

India has reinstated a reduced-rate tariff on imports of lentils from Canada as well as from all lentil-exporting nations other than the United States. Saskatchewan Pulse Growers on Friday reported receiving a Sept. 17 notification of amendment from India’s finance ministry regarding customs tariffs on lentils, which in Canada’s case had snapped back to 33 […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Bayer resolves more U.S. Roundup cases

Judge keeps pause on litigation

Reuters — Attorneys for Bayer and U.S. consumers suing the company over allegations its Roundup herbicide caused cancer told a judge on Thursday they are continuing to resolve thousands more U.S. cases, improving prospects for its US$11 billion deal to end the litigation. The hearing was a contrast to the contentious tone among the parties […] Read more