Toban Dyck: Policy battles and progress

Toban Dyck: Policy battles and progress

There used to be a thing called the Manitoba Pool Elevators. It was a grain company founded in the early 1900s, but its history and trajectory through the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United is not the topic of this column. There are two filing cabinets in our basement. They contain farm records from before […] Read more

CBOT July 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (orange line) and December 2021 corn (dark green line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn exceeds eight-year high on global supply worries

Soybean, wheat futures also finish higher

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures touched their highest price in more than eight years on Wednesday as concerns over global supplies and strong demand continued to fuel strong gains. A blistering rally in the market has raised costs for global producers of corn-based ethanol and of meat made from livestock […] Read more


Nutrien’s potash mine at Lanigan, Sask., about 100 km southeast of Saskatoon. (Nutrien.com)

New Nutrien CEO to carry out current strategy

Schmidt to focus on potash price over boosting sales

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian fertilizer and farm dealer Nutrien will continue its existing business strategy, including a focus on supporting global potash prices over maximizing sales, new CEO Mayo Schmidt said Tuesday. Surging prices of corn, soybeans and canola have given North American farmers more incentive to spend on fertilizer, lifting crop nutrient prices […] Read more

CBOT July 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange, dark green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn tops $7 for first time since 2013 in most-active contract

High corn prices are not destroying demand, Bunge CEO says

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures on Tuesday topped US$7 a bushel in the most-active contract for the first time since 2013 as unfavourably dry crop weather in Brazil kept attention on tightening global supplies. Surging prices have done little to curb robust demand for corn used to feed livestock and produce ethanol, opening […] Read more


Screenshot from an Alberta Agriculture video profiling Innisfail-based pulse and grain handler W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions. (Alberta Agriculture and Forestry via YouTube)

W.A. Grain enters receivership

Farmers owed money for grain delivered to this company should contact the Canadian Grain Commission

Alberta-based grain and pulse handler and processor W.A. Grain + Pulse Solutions went into receivership April 26. Farmers who delivered grain to its faculties in Alberta and Saskatchewan but haven’t been paid should contact the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC). “We have not commenced a claims process yet,” CGC spokesman Remi Gosselin said in an interview […] Read more

CBOT July 2021 corn with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn hits eight-year high

Soybean, wheat markets slump

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures hit their highest price since March 2013 on Monday on strong demand for limited U.S. supplies and concerns over dry weather hurting output in Brazil. Traders continue to focus on tightening global inventories as U.S. farmers plant corn and soy for the autumn harvest, rather […] Read more



File photo of the Port of Montreal. (Guy Banville/iStock/Getty Images)

Back-to-work rule for Montreal dockworkers clears Parliament

Bill granted royal assent Friday night

A week-long strike by dockworkers at the Port of Montreal is expected to conclude after federal back-to-work legislation passed Parliament Friday evening. Bill C-29, introduced Tuesday in the House of Commons, cleared third reading in the Commons Wednesday and received three readings in the Senate and royal assent Friday. The port’s longshore workers, represented by […] Read more


File photo of Ontario cropland from the air. (IMNATURE/iStock/Getty Images)

Federal NDP introduces soil health bill

Proposal calls for a National Soil Health Advocate

The federal New Democrats propose to set up a plan they say could help build up Canadian agriculture from the ground down. The NDP’s agriculture critic, British Columbia MP Alistair MacGregor, on Monday introduced a private member’s bill in the Commons to create a national soil health strategy for Canada. The strategy as proposed in […] Read more

CBOT July 2021 soybeans with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat end higher after volatile week

Market assesses U.S. planting, drought threat to Brazil crops

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn, soybean and wheat futures rose on Friday after three days of volatile trade following a run-up to eight-year highs, traders said. The most-active corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade gained 25 cents at $6.73-1/4 per bushel, adding 40-3/4 cents for the week, a 6.4 per cent gain […] Read more