CBOT September 2020 corn with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn continues upward on USDA acreage data, weather worries

Wheat, soy also firm on lower-than-expected USDA acreage; traders eye forecasts for warm, dry Midwest weather

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures extended a rally on Wednesday to their highest in more than three months after a steeper-than-expected reduction to the U.S. government’s 2020 corn acreage estimate, analysts said. Soybeans and wheat gained after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s acreage report on Tuesday also showed smaller-than-expected plantings of the grains. […] Read more

While cost likely limits the market for self-propelled balers, they do push computerization, Adam Verner says.

Balers evolving to make silage and run non-stop

Given the short haying windows, Adam Verner sees growth potential for wet hay and silage balers. But manufacturers still face challenges around speed, bale density and cost

The earliest round balers were amazing but frustrating machines. During forage season, I would exhibit a semi-permanent crick in the neck combined with a disturbing vocabulary of profanities. Constant fear of a plugged pickup, a twisted belt or a roller bearing displaying the telltale signs of smoke before the fire plagued my working days. These […] Read more


CBOT September 2020 corn with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy climb on smaller-than-expected acreage view

Wheat follows corn, soy higher

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn futures surged nearly four per cent on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that American farmers planted 92 million acres of corn this spring, a figure that fell below a range of analyst expectations. Soybean futures rose after USDA put U.S. plantings at 83.8 million acres, up […] Read more

CBOT July 2020 corn with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, wheat end higher ahead of USDA reports

Chicago soy also firms; expectations of bumper harvests keep lid on prices

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn futures rose on Monday on short-covering and position-squaring ahead of key reports due on Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and word that China was in the market for the grain after futures fell to a seven-week low last week, analysts said. Wheat rose, bouncing from contract […] Read more


An image created by Nexu Science Communication, together with Trinity College in Dublin, shows a model structurally representative of a betacoronavirus, the type of virus linked to COVID-19. (Nexu Science Communication via Reuters)

Ontario pledges farm recruiter crackdown as COVID-19 outbreaks grow

Ford rips 'fly-by-nighters just trying to make a quick buck'

Toronto | Reuters –– Ontario will crack down on “fly-by-night” recruitment agencies sending workers on to farms, the premier said on Monday, after a testing blitz identified a major coronavirus outbreak on a farm in southwestern Ontario. “We’re reaching out to all the farmers, we’re getting a list of these recruitment agencies. We found out […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Attention turns to yield potential after StatsCan report

Future tweaks to acreage numbers seen as unlikely to sway markets

MarketsFarm — Updated acreage estimates from Statistics Canada came largely within market expectations, with the focus now shifting to growing conditions and yield potential. The survey was completed in early June “and may not have captured all of the seeding delays and potential shifts that may have happened in central/northern Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan because […] Read more


File photo of an Alberta wheat field. (ImagineGolf/E+/Getty Images)

StatsCan survey shows bump up in wheat acres, particularly durum

Farmers back off canola, soybeans; pandemic expected to cause other problems for ag

Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian farmers planted slightly more wheat overall in 2020 than in 2019, but the coronavirus outbreak will pose “unique challenges” in the production and distribution of crops, Statistics Canada said on Monday. Farmers planted 25 million acres of wheat, up 1.5 per cent from 2019, thanks in part to a 16.2 […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Canola area expected to be lower in Monday’s StatsCan report

Later-seeded areas expected to add pulse, barley, durum acres

MarketsFarm — Market participants generally expect canola acreage will be revised downward in a second acreage estimate due out Monday from Statistics Canada. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about canola acres,” Ken Ball of P.I. International in Winnipeg said, noting acreage was “definitely lost” in central and northern Alberta due to wet spring conditions. In […] Read more


Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu leaves a news conference in Ottawa on March 23, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Blair Gable)

Health minister calls treatment of some farm workers a ‘national disgrace’

Ministers discussing changes to Canada's TFW program

Ottawa | Reuters — The treatment of migrant workers in Canada by some farmers is disgraceful and the federal government is seeking to fix the problem, the country’s health minister told a parliamentary committee on Friday, as farms battle COVID-19 outbreaks among their employees. Outbreaks of coronavirus infections have killed three people and infected hundreds […] Read more

(Twitter)

Help wanted: CGC seeks new leadership

Two top slots are open at the federal agency

If you want to be a Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) commissioner, or chief commissioner, now’s your chance. The Canadian government is advertising both positions on the CGC’s website and Twitter. Applicants must apply online for the positions, which are cabinet appointments. The deadline is Tuesday (June 30). The jobs involve lots of travel in and […] Read more