File photo of grain silos and other buildings at harbourside at Saint Nazaire on France’s west coast. (Sissoupitch/iStock/Getty Images)

France says pesticide ban will not hit grain exports

Fumigant can't be in 'direct contact' with grains

Paris | Reuters — France will ensure that a decision by health and safety agency ANSES to ban the use of a pesticide in direct contact with grains does not hamper its exports outside the European Union, its trade and agriculture ministers told Parliament on Tuesday. In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine […] Read more

CBOT May 2023 soft red winter wheat with 20-day moving average, MGEX May 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. May 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago grains up after jumpy day of Black Sea concerns

Markets await U.S. export sales data on Thursday

Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago grains futures closed higher Wednesday, after a mixed day underpinned by renewed Russian criticism of the deal allowing Ukraine to export grain from Black Sea ports. Soybean and corn futures settled up, regaining some ground lost earlier in the session amid a bumper soy harvest in Brazil and an […] Read more


Alternaria in a canola leaf. By understanding the interactions between the host, pathogen and environment, farmers can better develop an effective disease management strategy.

Five disease management strategies for your crops

Q & A with an expert

Q: What are some strategies to prevent and control crop diseases?  A: The disease triangle states that three components must be present for a disease to occur: a susceptible host, a pathogen and the right environment. By understanding the interactions between the host, pathogen and environment in disease development, farmers can develop effective disease management […] Read more

Commercial vessels  –including vessels which are part of the Black Sea grain deal — wait to pass the Bosphorus strait off the shores of Yenikapi during a misty morning in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Umit Bektas)

Outlook for Black Sea grain deal ‘not so great,’ Kremlin says

Grain deal due to expire next month; Russia wants financial, insurance obstacles removed

Moscow | Reuters — The Kremlin on Wednesday said the outlook for the landmark U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal was not great as promises to remove obstacles to Russian exports of agricultural and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled. The grain deal is an attempt to ease a food crisis that predated the Russian invasion […] Read more


CBOT May 2023 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago soy stronger on predictions for Argentina crop

Black Sea supply a risk as Russia challenges corridor deal

Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures settled higher on Tuesday after the U.S. government slashed its estimate for production in Argentina to a 23-year low in a monthly report. Soybean production in Argentina will be smaller than previously thought at 27 million tonnes as a crop-wasting drought decimated fields in the key South […] Read more

Laura Reiter. (Photo courtesy WGRF)

Former Sask Wheat chair to lead WGRF board

Kevin Auch remains foundation's vice-chair

The Western Grains Research Foundation has a new chair. Laura Reiter, a farmer from Radisson, Sask., northwest of Saskatoon, was elected to the post following the first meeting of the new board following the organization’s 2023 annual general meeting. Reiter is a producer and trained agrologist who has spent time working in research and in […] Read more


Willem van Staveren says perennials and winter annuals such as dandelions, thistle and particularly kochia are targeted in the farm’s fall weed control program.

Weed control timing is important: sooner is better than later

If weeds get the upper hand, a percentage of yield loss can’t be recovered

Willem van Staveren says you can’t beat early weed control. In fact, every year on the family-run southern Saskatchewan farm, the Van Staverens plan for a post-harvest herbicide application to help control winter annual and perennial weeds in preparation for the following growing season. “It is important for us to make the late fall herbicide […] Read more

CBOT May 2023 soft red winter wheat with 20-day moving average, MGEX May 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. May 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat closes higher on dry weather, Russian threats

Markets await monthly supply and demand report from USDA

Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures were higher on Monday, as dry weather put Kansas City wheat at risk and Russia’s threat to bypass a UN-brokered grain deal underpinned prices, traders said. Corn also closed higher, though soybeans dipped as warm and dry weather improved the planting outlook in the United States, analysts […] Read more



CBOT May 2023 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Crop futures slide on disappointing export sales, improved weather

Traders adjust positions before Easter weekend

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade grain and soybean futures crumbled on Thursday on disappointing U.S. export sales and an improved weather outlook for U.S. spring plantings, analysts said. U.S. soybean export sales for 2022-23 were 155,300 tonnes for the week ended March 30, down 42 per cent from the prior four-week average, […] Read more