(EC.europa.eu)

Belgian region wants more time to fix CETA

Brussels/Ottawa | Reuters — The premier of the Belgian region that is the main impediment to a planned EU-Canada free trade agreement on Wednesday advised postponing a summit next week to sign the deal and taking a few more months to fix outstanding issues. Walloon’s Paul Magnette spoke as pressure mounted on him to drop […] Read more

Le Botanique, a Brussels-area greenhouse facility repurposed as a cultural centre and live music venue. (CIA.gov)

Belgian ‘Non’ blocks EU approval of CETA

Luxembourg | Reuters — EU governments failed on Tuesday to approve a free trade agreement with Canada, as continued opposition from French-speaking southern Belgium threatened the entire deal. Almost all 28 EU governments, whose ministers were meeting in Luxembourg, now back the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which would be the bloc’s first trade […] Read more


(CPR.ca)

CP to chart weekly grain handling performance online

Canadian Pacific Railway plans to launch a new weekly “supply chain scorecard” next week, to chart its own performance handling Prairie grain. The Calgary company announced the new program Friday for an online launch Wednesday (Oct. 19), noting the scorecard “will include, when necessary, detailed information on any internal or external factors affecting grain movement” as […] Read more

Heavy rain and snow stalls harvest, sunny weather relief in the forecast

Saskatchewan Crop Report for the week ending October 10

Heavy rain and snow over the past several days has stalled harvest. Eighty-one per cent of the 2016 crop is combined and 15 per cent is swathed or ready to straight-cut, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly Crop Report. The five-year (2011-2015) average for this time of year is 93 per cent combined. The southeast has […] Read more


(EC.europa.eu)

German court rejects bid to block Canada-EU trade deal

Berlin/Ottawa | Reuters –– Germany’s Constitutional Court cleared the government on Thursday to approve a free trade accord between the European Union and Canada under defined conditions, boosting the agreement’s chances of passing an EU vote next week. However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made clear he was losing patience with the EU over the […] Read more

A preserved portion of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany. (CIA.gov)

Germany’s top court hears CETA challenge

Karlsruhe, Germany | Reuters — Germany’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday began hearing a legal challenge to a planned EU-Canada free trade deal that could paralyze the accord. Three German activist groups handed in 125,000 signatures to the court in August in opposition to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which they fear will undermine […] Read more



Harvest progress below five-year average, rain still persists

Saskatchewan Crop Report for the week ending October 3

Producers were able to get back into the field for a few days and make some harvest progress in between the weekend rains. Eighty per cent of the 2016 crop has been combined and 14 per cent is swathed or ready to straight-cut, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly Crop Report. The five-year (2011-2015) average for […] Read more



Officially open in May 2016 the Northgate Commodities Logistics Centre is moving 100 railcars per week and has capacity for 2.7 million bushels of grain storage.

It’s built… and they’re coming

Grain is moving south at Northgate where an abandoned Sask. hamlet once stood

A new Canadian-built grain export terminal at Northgate in southern Saskatchewan is booming these days. Actually, the Northgate Commodities Logistics Centre about 60 km southeast of Estevan hasn’t seen too many slow days since the first railcars started rolling south in January 2015. Officially opened in May 2016, the 2.7 million bushel capacity grain terminal […] Read more