ICE Futures January 2020 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola steady, awaits news

MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts moved lower during the week ended Wednesday, but remain rangebound overall awaiting some fresh market-moving news. Some direction could come from the U.S. soybean complex, as the ongoing back-and-forth of trade talks with China could see some actual movement ahead of a Dec. 15 deadline that will see the […] Read more

(Medioimages/Photodisc/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Headlines, geopolitics drive prices

MarketsFarm — To Terry Reilly, about the only things driving the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) are headlines and geopolitics developments. “Traders are trading headlines,” Reilly, an analyst for Futures International in Chicago, said in reference to the latest developments in U.S.-China trade talks. Reports on Wednesday morning said the two countries were close to […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Trade’s crop estimates vary ahead of StatsCan report

MarketsFarm — Barley and canola production expectations vary ahead of Statistics Canada’s production of principal field crops report, due out Friday. In September, the federal agency estimated Canada’s barley production to total just less than 10 million tonnes, two million higher than the final count for the 2018-19 growing year. However, some trade estimates are […] Read more

Neil Townsend (left) of FarmLink and Jason Newton of Nutrien discuss farm consolidation at the Grain World conference in Saskatoon on Nov. 28, 2019. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

Grain World: Farm consolidation key to increasing yields

Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — Consolidating farms — going from numerous small operations to fewer, but much larger, farms — is central to improving crop yields, according to grain industry observers Neil Townsend and Jason Newton. Townsend is the chief market analyst for FarmLink Marketing Solutions, while Newton is the chief economist and head of marketing […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Soy rises on trade hopes

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rose on Wednesday, buoyed by renewed optimism about a U.S.-China trade deal as well as some bargain buying, traders said. Corn futures were lower, giving up early gains on technical selling, while wheat futures firmed after two days of sharp declines. Investors were reassured by a Bloomberg report […] Read more

(JimPattison.com)

Pattison to shut one Saskatchewan Deere dealership

Pattison Agriculture’s chain of Deere ag equipment dealerships in Saskatchewan and Manitoba is preparing to cut one link. The Prairie farm equipment sales and service arm of B.C.’s Jim Pattison Group announced Tuesday on its website and social media it will permanently close its dealership at Foam Lake, Sask. effective Dec. 31. The Pattison store […] Read more


China has boosted its wheat imports from Canada in the wake of the U.S.-China trade war, Ivy Li says. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

Grain World: Beijing analyst brings different perspective

Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — Ivy Li brought a much different perspective about China to the Grain World conference in Saskatoon. Specializing in Chinese agricultural markets, the Beijing-based independent analyst veered away from the usual statements that often cast China as the bad guy on the world stage. Also, Li pointed out, Canada has been doing […] Read more

There are great opportunities for Canadian pulses, not only as commodity exports, but as food products, AGT CEO Murad Al-Katib says. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

Grain World: Opportunities great for Canadian pulses, AGT CEO says

Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — To Murad Al-Katib, the opportunities for Canadian pulse exports to India are amazing, provided one correctly understands the context of India’s tariffs on pulses. Also, he said, those Canadian exporters must realize they need to switch from being solely dependent on commodities to adding value by shipping food and ingredients. “We […] Read more


(AGTFoods.com)

Grain World: AGT books eventful 2019

Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — This year has been a watershed year for AGT Food and Ingredients, the company’s CEO Murad Al-Katib told the Grain World conference in Saskatoon. AGT was delisted from the TSX earlier in 2019, as Al-Katib moved to take the company private after 12 years of being publicly traded. Its new ownership […] Read more

A freight train at Manchac, La., about 75 km east of Baton Rouge. (CN.ca)

CN strike to weigh on railway’s 2019 profit

Reuters — Canadian National Railway on Tuesday cut its adjusted profit growth target for 2019, citing shipment delays from the country’s largest rail strike in a decade that ended last week. Shares in CN, which counts billionaire Bill Gates’ investment firm as its biggest shareholder, fell almost two per cent in morning trading in both […] Read more