Canadian Mushrooms Growers’ Association CEO Ryan Koeslag speaks online with members of the Commons standing ag committee. (Video screengrab from Parl.gc.ca)

Federal ag supports ‘too little, too late’ for mushroom growers

Timing of programs for TFWs, surplus food purchases leaves aid out of reach: CMGA

Ottawa — Members of Parliament sitting on the committee dealing with agricultural issues continue to hear concerns over the federal government’s response to COVID-19. During the Commons standing committee on agriculture and agri-food’s online meeting Wednesday, representatives of the Canadian Mushrooms Growers’ Association raised “grave concerns” over the support CMGA members have received. CEO Ryan […] Read more

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

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans slide on China tensions

Midwest weather poses risks for wheat

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures fell on Friday as escalating U.S.-China tensions over Beijing’s proposed restrictions on Hong Kong dampened markets after a week of gains. Three sources told Reuters China may reduce U.S. agricultural imports if Washington issues a severe response to Beijing’s push to impose national security laws on […] Read more


An artists’ rendition of the Merit Functional Foods plant under construction in Winnipeg. (Meritfoods.com)

Plant protein processor backed for expansion

Lenders arrange up to $85 million for Merit Functional Foods

The money has been lined up to fund a major expansion for a Winnipeg pea and canola protein processing plant that’s still being built. Merit Functional Foods Corp. announced May 4 it has secured a debt financing package of up to $85 million from “a syndicate of lenders” including Export Development Canada, Farm Credit Canada […] Read more

Morris’ Quantum Air Drill had its first public appearance at Canada’s Farm Progress Show and its formal launch at Ag in Motion in 2018. (Grainews photo by Scott Garvey)

Rite Way proposes to buy Morris Industries

Regina farm equipment maker draws up letter of intent

Cash-crunched seeding equipment maker Morris Industries has been handed a letter of intent to purchase, from a Saskatchewan suitor with a farm equipment company of its own. Calgary consultancy Alvarez and Marsal said in a report Tuesday it received a letter of intent for a “proposed sale transaction” from Superior Farms Solutions Ltd. (SFSL), the […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Corn, wheat up as weather, currency spark short-covering

Hong Kong row tempers hopes of China demand for U.S. soy

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures jumped on Thursday to a five-week high as a weaker dollar, forecasts for hotter, drier weather in the Midwest corn belt and a further rebound in ethanol production triggered bargain buying and short-covering by managed funds. Wheat futures also rallied on expanding dryness across the Plains wheat belt […] Read more

Mexican agricultural workers queue in the early morning at the U.S.-Mexico border to enter Calexico, California from Mexicali on May 26, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Ariana Drehsler)

Farm workers cram daily into U.S.-Mexico border tunnel

Labourers line up hundreds deep for hours despite contagion risk

Mexicali | Reuters — Every night, hundreds of farm workers in Mexico crowd for hours in a cramped tunnel to a border station to reach day jobs in Imperial Valley, California, with no social distancing enforced despite coronavirus cases saturating hospitals in the region. By 2 a.m. on Tuesday, tense men and women with cloth […] Read more


Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her family home in Vancouver in this May 8, 2019 file photo. (Photo: Reuters/Lindsey Wasson)

Huawei extradition ruling could unleash more Chinese backlash

More punitive trade measures expected

Ottawa | Reuters — A British Columbia court ruling that could permit the extradition of a senior Huawei executive to the U.S. leaves Canada vulnerable to further retaliation from Beijing, analysts said. Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou on Wednesday lost a challenge to a U.S. bid to extradite her to face bank fraud charges, […] Read more

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

Feed weekly outlook: Cheaper corn to temper rising barley bids

Lack of farmer selling a factor in bids

MarketsFarm — Rising feed barley prices in Western Canada may be nearing their upper limit, as end users look to add more cheaper corn to their rations. “The higher that barley and wheat get, the more attractive corn gets,” said Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities in Lethbridge. “If barley and wheat go any higher, we’ll […] Read more