Loading grain on a vessel at a Burrard Inlet terminal. (Maxvis/iStock/Getty Images)

Ocean freight rates trending lower

MarketsFarm — The Baltic Dry Index has fallen sharply over the past four months, dropping below 1,000 points to start the New Year. A slowdown in iron-ore activity, as high prices have had Chinese mills buying up domestic inventories rather than importing from overseas, accounted for much of the general weakness in the freight sector, […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Teamsters seek charges against CP to cap working hours

Montreal/Toronto | Reuters — A union is taking the unusual step of pursuing contempt of court charges against Canada’s second-largest railroad, in a previously unreported case that escalates the debate over working hours for railroad employees, according to two sources and legal documents. The Teamsters union argued in court filings that Canadian Pacific Railway should […] Read more


August 16, 2019. Not a bad-looking crop but all stages from nearly ripe to grass green.

Les Henry: Diary of my 2019 wheat crop

This growing season was challenging, but the end result was better than expected

The 2019 crop year will go on record as one of the more challenging in a long time. In the past decade we have had a very good run of good crops — often with harvest weather that allowed long stretches where dry grain could be binned. At the same time, we have enjoyed crop […] Read more

A rendition, by Genitique, of the planned biomethanization plant to be built at Warwick, about 65 km southeast of Trois-Rivieres. (Groupe CNW/Energir)

Quebec ag co-op to power up on dairy cattle manure

About a dozen Quebec dairy farms will be getting their collective manure together next year for the province’s first-ever ag co-operative devoted to renewable natural gas. Coop Agri-Energie Warwick, launched Monday, plans to start construction this spring on a $12 million biomethanization plant which will take in slurry and manure from dairy cattle mixed with […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf lands ‘sustainability-linked’ credit

Canadian food processor Maple Leaf Foods is taking its recently-established sustainability cred to the bank. The Toronto food firm announced Wednesday it’s the first Canadian company to secure “sustainability-linked terms” for its credit facilities. Specifically, the company has picked up an unsecured committed revolving line of credit and two unsecured committed term facilities for a […] Read more




File photo of Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet in Montreal on Oct. 22, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Andrej Ivanov)

Opposition MPs could delay CUSMA deal’s ratification

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s two main opposition parties on Wednesday suggested they could move to delay ratification of a new continental trade pact, accusing the Liberal government of botching revisions to the treaty. Such a move would embarrass Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has vowed that Parliament will quickly approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (CUSMA). […] Read more


Neil Townsend (left) of FarmLink and Jason Newton of Nutrien discuss farm consolidation at the Grain World conference in Saskatoon on Nov. 28, 2019. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

Grain World: Farm consolidation key to increasing yields

Saskatoon | MarketsFarm — Consolidating farms — going from numerous small operations to fewer, but much larger, farms — is central to improving crop yields, according to grain industry observers Neil Townsend and Jason Newton. Townsend is the chief market analyst for FarmLink Marketing Solutions, while Newton is the chief economist and head of marketing […] Read more

What was once a thin patch of grass rebounded nicely after pastured
poultry added nutrients to the soil.

Natural ways to improve soil quality

Cover crops may be more practical than molasses and milk

For many years there has been growing public concern that food is declining in nutrition. Dr. Arden Anderson, a favourite researcher, has studied the correlation between soil health and feed nutrition. His research has shown that the nutrient content of foods today compared to half a century ago ranges from 15 to 75 per cent […] Read more