Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on July 19 attended an event in Winnipeg marking the 50th anniversary of Cereals Canada with that organization’s CEO Dean Dias. (Dave Bedard photo)

Direct compensation for fertilizer tariffs not on table

Eastern farm groups call for help ahead of fall seeding

Farmers in Eastern Canada who rely on imports of Russian-made fertilizers aren’t going to see direct compensation for the federal government’s general tariff on those products. A clutch of farmer and ag industry groups on July 15 put forward a new request to Ottawa for compensation to farmers “negatively impacted” by a 35 per cent […] Read more

File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

Outraged by strike on Odesa, Ukraine still prepares to resume grain exports

Accord had sought to avert major global food crisis; attack shows Moscow can't be trusted on deal, Zelenskiy says

Kyiv | Reuters — Ukraine pressed ahead on Sunday with efforts to restart grain exports from Odesa and other Black Sea ports after a missile attack that cast doubt over whether Russia would honour a deal aimed at easing global food shortages caused by the war. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced the strikes on Odesa as […] Read more


CBOT September 2022 wheat (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (green line), MGEX September 2022 spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. September 2022 hard red wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat falls six per cent on Ukraine grain export deal

CBOT corn sags, soy rallies

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell nearly six per cent on Friday to their lowest level since February after Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, traders said. Corn fell almost two per cent on the news but soybean futures closed higher, rebounding from […] Read more

File photo of a lighthouse at the Ukrainian port of Chernomorsk on the Black Sea. (Larysa Shcherbyna/iStock/Getty Images)

Ukraine, Russia sign deal to reopen grain export ports

Russia says it 'won't take advantage' of de-mining of ports

Istanbul/Kyiv | Reuters — Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark deal on Friday to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased. The accord crowned two months of talks brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, a NATO member that […] Read more


CBOT December 2022 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange and green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat fall on weather, Ukraine sea pact

IGC's corn outlook lower, wheat outlook up

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell to two-week lows and new-crop soybeans hit a six-month low on Thursday on improving crop weather in the Midwest and news of a deal to restart Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, traders said. Wheat futures declined after choppy trade. All three markets fell to the day’s lows […] Read more

Cargo ships are docked in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa on Nov. 4, 2016. (File photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

Deal to resume Ukraine Black Sea grain exports to be signed Friday

Istanbul/United Nations | Reuters — Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will sign a deal on Friday to resume Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s office said Thursday. Russia and Ukraine are both major global wheat suppliers, but Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of its neighbour has sent food prices soaring […] Read more


CBOT November 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy, corn futures ease on improving weather

CBOT wheat firms on export news

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean and corn futures fell on Wednesday on forecasts for improving weather in the Midwest, including rains next week that should boost crop production prospects, analysts said. Wheat futures rose as traders awaited the outcome of Egyptian wheat purchase negotiations, as well as talks on a possible deal to boost […] Read more

File photo of a bulk port facility in Ukraine. (Olivia Sabeskaya/iStock/Getty Images)

Ukraine grain storage crisis hits home as farmers harvest new crops

Outlook bleak if sea export route not reopened soon

Khreshchate, Ukraine | Reuters — Ukrainian farmer Mykola Tereshchenko hopes to start harvesting his wheat fields this week, but the smallholder in northern Ukraine has nowhere to store the grain. His silos are still crammed full with 1,100 tonnes of grain from last year’s harvest that he can’t export due to the closure of Ukraine’s […] Read more


CBOT September 2022 wheat (candlesticks) with 20- and 200-day moving averages (green and black lines), MGEX September 2022 spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. September 2022 hard red wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: CBOT wheat hits five-month low

Corn, soy firm on U.S. weather outlook

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures tumbled to a five-month low on Friday, with hopes for a pick-up in exports from war-torn Ukraine threatening the recent gains made in demand for U.S. supplies, traders said. Corn futures firmed again, their seventh gain in the last eight sessions, on concerns about hot […] Read more

Cargo ships are docked in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa on Nov. 4, 2016. (File photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

As Ukraine grain deal emerges, U.S. aims to ease concerns over Russia sanctions

Washington | Reuters –– The United States on Thursday sought to facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports by reassuring banks, shipping and insurance companies that such transactions would not breach Washington’s sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Enabling those Russian exports is a key part of attempts by the United Nations and Turkish […] Read more