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Soft ocean freight rates, which hit 25-year lows in early February, are helping cut into Canada’s grain freight disadvantage with some of its competitors, according to industry participants. The Baltic Dry Index, which is used as a guide for global shipping rates, is sitting at 715 points, up from a 25-year low of 647 points […] Read more

An online service allowing Canada’s farmers to quickly look up treatment data for any treatable crop pest problem has brought a substantial chunk of its offerings out from behind the pay wall. Guelph-based The Savvy Farmer Inc. has announced the launch of Savvy Farmer lite, a free version of its Savvy Farmer software. The “lite” […] Read more

Archer Daniels Midland will close a North Dakota ethanol plant near the Manitoba border, marking the first such closure for the agribusiness giant that last month announced the elimination of 1,000 jobs. The facility at Walhalla, N.D., about 30 km south of Winkler, Man., will permanently close in April, resulting in the loss of 61 […] Read more

You’re a farmer. You often work alone and so do your family members and workers. Sometimes, you don’t see another soul all day and nobody even knows where you are. That’s just the way it is. But is it safe? You know the answer. Sure, the relative safety of your situation working alone does depend […] Read more

A high-throughput Viterra elevator in Saskatchewan’s southeast corner is set to get expansions of both its storage and rail car capacity. The Fairlight facility’s rated capacity, according to the Canadian Grain Commission, now sits at 25,340 tonnes. According to Kyle Jeworski, the company’s vice-president for North American grain merchandising, the expansion will add capacity for […] Read more