(M+M Food Market video screengrab via YouTube)

On The Run operator to buy M+M Food Market

Parkland Corp. to pay $322M for frozen-food retailer

A well-known Canadian food retailer selling flash-frozen meals, entrees, side dishes and desserts direct to consumers is headed to expansion-minded new owners. Calgary-based Parkland Corp., which operates fuel and convenience retail chains and bulk fuel distribution businesses in Canada and elsewhere, announced Tuesday it’s signed an agreement to buy M+M Food Market for about $322 […] Read more

CME February 2022 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME cattle futures weak

Hog futures firm

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures fell on Tuesday, with mild profit-taking noted after rallying in three of the previous four sessions. Hog futures were firmer, extending their rebound from the five-week low hit last week. Most actively traded February lean hogs rose 0.7 cent to 81.6 cents/lb. (all figures US$). […] Read more


Manitoba’s new ag minister Derek Johnson, whose constituency includes Diageo’s Crown Royal distillery at Gimli, congratulated the company on social media Monday for prizes earned at the Canadian Whisky Awards. Those included distillery of the year for Gimli, and Canadian whisky of the year for Crown Royal Nobel Collection Winter Wheat. (Facebook)

Manitoba names new ag minister in shuffle

Derek Johnson replaces Ralph Eichler

Another MLA from Manitoba’s Interlake region has been named to handle the province’s farm file in Premier Heather Stefanson’s latest cabinet shuffle and portfolio restructuring. Stefanson, who replaced Brian Pallister as premier in November, on Tuesday named Interlake-Gimli MLA Derek Johnson as minister of agriculture, replacing Lakeside MLA Ralph Eichler, who has been dropped from […] Read more



Ranchers milking cows to make ends meet

There are often stories I come across that fit into the category of “thank God we live in Canada.”  The following is a report from the Reuters news agency this week about the mess of the agriculture industry in at least part of  Venezuela. Inflation is raging at 686 per cent, people can’t afford food […] Read more

CME February 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures rebound, slaughter pace still weak

CME February live cattle up

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures bounced back on Friday, though analysts said U.S. staffing shortages caused by COVID-19 infections continued to limit meat production. Most actively traded February lean hogs touched a one-week high and ended 3.05 cents stronger at 80.9 cents/lb. (all figures US$). The contract recovered after falling […] Read more


CME February 2022 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs dip on concern over slower slaughter, heavier pigs

Feeder cattle up as feed grain prices drop

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures fell on Thursday amid concerns that a reduced pace of slaughtering is limiting demand for pigs that are growing heavier, analysts said. Slow slaughtering has weighed on hog and cattle futures because livestock back up on farms when they cannot be processed, traders said. Slaughtering […] Read more

Seeding in southwestern Manitoba in the spring of 2021. (Manitoba Co-operator file photo by Alexis Stockford)

Last year was world’s sixth-warmest on record, U.S. scientists say

Heat content of oceans at record level, NOAA says

Reuters — Last year ranked as the sixth-warmest year on record, causing extreme weather events around the world and adding to evidence supporting the globe’s long-term warming, according to an analysis on Thursday by two U.S. government agencies. The data compiled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA also revealed that […] Read more


Sea surface temperature anomalies over the equatorial Pacific Ocean for the week centred on Jan. 5, 2022. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

La Niña likely to continue into spring, U.S. forecaster says

Reuters — La Nina conditions are likely to continue during the Northern Hemisphere spring, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. The La Niña weather pattern, characterized by unusually cold temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, has a 67 per cent chance of persisting from March through May this year, the National Weather Service’s […] Read more

A view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

Cross-border supply chains still may face disruptions from vaccine mandates

CLARIFIED, Jan. 13 — Ottawa/Washington | Reuters — COVID-19 vaccine requirements for foreign truckers at the U.S.-Canada border still could cause supply-chain disruptions if both countries do not decide to allow exemptions, the head of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said Thursday. Canadian truck drivers who aren’t vaccinated may enter Canada by right — but […] Read more