The United Nations’ General Assembly Hall in Manhattan. (BWZenith/iStock/Getty Images)

World Food Program seeking billions within six months to avert famine

Pandemic may double hunger worldwide, agency says

London | Reuters — The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) will need to raise US$6.8 billion over the next six months to avert famine amid the COVID-19 crisis, the agency said on Tuesday. The WFP, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week for its efforts to prevent the use of hunger as […] Read more

CBOT November 2020 soybeans with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans rebound from prior day’s plunge

Wheat flat as stronger dollar offsets dryness concerns; corn up on exports to Mexico

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures rose on Tuesday, a day after the market’s largest drop in six months slowed a rash of farmer selling, traders said. Chicago wheat futures rose slightly but were capped by a strong U.S. dollar, while CBOT corn gained on fresh export sales to Mexico. CBOT November soybeans closed […] Read more


Purple stripes were running along the length of 
the kernels.

Crop advisor casebook: Why the odd striping in these barley seed heads?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the October 13, 2020 issue of Grainews

Jo, a cattle producer who grows barley as livestock feed at her farm near Kindersley, Sask., came by the office one morning in early August to show me a few plants from her crop. She was worried some kind of disease had taken hold in the field of Champion feed barley, which had caused some […] Read more

CBOT November 2020 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans fall as harvest pressure fills bulls’ void

Corn follows soybeans lower; wheat ends slightly higher

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures dropped sharply on Monday, as harvest pressure pushed the market lower, traders said. Corn followed soybeans lower, while wheat ended slightly higher on concerns that dryness across the U.S. Great Plains might limit winter wheat growth. Chicago Board of Trade most-active soybeans fell 31-3/4 cents to $10.33-3/4 per […] Read more


(Video screengrab from Alberta Agriculture and Forestry via YouTube)

Federal fund, Alberta government back irrigation upgrades

Infrastructure Bank lends cash for system improvements

Eight irrigation districts in Alberta are set to tap into the Canada Infrastructure Bank’s new $1.5 billion pool of funding earmarked for irrigation, to receive loans worth about $407.5 million. The Alberta and federal governments on Friday announced a total investment of $815 million — including repayable CIB funds, provincial support and irrigation district contributions […] Read more

CBOT November 2020 soybeans with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybean futures hit 2018 highs as supplies tighten

USDA cuts domestic soy ending stocks; traders expect more demand from China

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures surged to their highest prices since March 2018 after the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday said inventories will dwindle to a five-year low. Corn futures advanced to a one-year high, while wheat futures slumped in a setback from a five-year high reached on Thursday. […] Read more


The USDA building in Washington, D.C. (Art Wager/iStock/Getty Images)

USDA’s WASDE bullish for soy, corn, wheat

MarketsFarm — The October world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows lower U.S. ending stocks for soybeans, corn and wheat. Projected U.S. soybean ending stocks for 2020-21 were lowered to 290 million bushels from last month’s projection of 460 million. Last year, carryout stocks were at 523 […] Read more



The pea crop on the left side of the photo was treated with Nodulator Duo, which includes rhizobium as well as another bacteria that produces a root strengthening bio-film. The crop on the right side of the photo was treated with a competitive product that was rhizobium-only.

Biological power complements inoculants for pulse crops

Nitrogen-fixing rhizobia aren’t just for pulse and legume crops

While the 2020 crop may not be harvested and in the bin yet, early fall is still a good time to be thinking about the 2021 crop and lining up pulse crop inoculants for the coming growing season. Producers should be lining up inoculant needs this fall to avoid disappointment next spring. In addition to […] Read more

An ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer plant in Russia. (Saoirse_2010/iStock/Getty Images)

Fertilizer use fuelling climate-warming nitrous oxide emissions, study says

London | Reuters — Rising use of nitrogen-based fertilizers is driving up global emissions of nitrous oxide, a lesser-known greenhouse gas, complicating efforts to limit climate change, scientists reported in a study on Wednesday. Most of the focus in curbing climate-warming gas emissions has focused on the most abundant, carbon dioxide, and one of the […] Read more