U.S. grains: Wheat, soy tumble on profit-taking

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat, soybeans and corn plunged on Friday, with wheat posting its largest daily declines in three years as investors locked in profits after huge gains earlier this week, and extended weather outlooks were seen as beneficial for crops. Chicago Board of Trade wheat shed six per cent, but still managed […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Ottawa moves to extend expanded rail interswitching

Prairie crop growers hoping that changes in federal rail freight rules will continue past their expiration date are about to get their wish. Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Friday announced they would bring forward a resolution in Parliament to extend provisions of the previous government’s Bill C-30, the Fair Rail […] Read more





Record-low summerfallow expected

CNS Canada — Changing farm practices and moving world markets over the years have seen shifts in the makeup of the crops grown in Canada — but the most noticeable change in the past three decades may be the amount of land seeded to nothing. Heading into the 2016 growing season, Canadian farmers say they […] Read more

(UCCS.ucdavis.edu)

California communities beg for relief from drought restrictions

Sacramento | Reuters — California communities where a wet winter has filled reservoirs and begun ameliorating the state’s catastrophic four-year drought begged water regulators on Wednesday to reduce or eliminate emergency conservation measures imposed last year. Facing pushback from aggravated consumers under the ongoing rules, water utilities say they will have little credibility asking for […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

Flax expected to lose a third of acres

CNS Canada — Canada’s flax acres are expected to fall about a third from last year’s levels, according to Statistics Canada data. One market participant says weaker prices have influenced farmers, while another says smaller crops are often overlooked during surveys. StatsCan estimates flax’s seeded area at about 1.1 million acres, compared with 1.6 million acres […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. grains: Soybeans hit eight-month high

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybeans surged to the highest levels in eight months on Thursday on technical buying and bull-spreading as investors eyed outlooks for lower output due to rains in Argentina. Corn and wheat futures tumbled more than two per cent in a profit-taking setback at the Chicago Board of Trade, with volumes […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canada’s farmers seen seeding less canola than expected

Reuters — Canadian farmers intend to seed less canola than expected, and will sow record-large areas with pulse crops, according to the government’s first farmer survey of crop sowings for 2016, released on Thursday. Wheat seedings are also expected to decline, but not as much as traders and analysts expected on average. Statistics Canada estimated that […] Read more