File photo of laker vessels navigating the Welland Canal. (JonathanNicholls/iStock/Getty Images)

St. Lawrence traffic to resume as tentative labour deal reached

Deal goes now to ratification vote

A week-long strike by about 360 unionized workers on the St. Lawrence Seaway ended Monday morning with a tentative agreement on a new labour deal. The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC) and Unifor, the union representing the workers, announced the new agreement separately Sunday evening. Unionized workers had been on strike since just after […] Read more

(Mysticenergy/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie Forecast Update: Warmer air not in the cards

Issued Oct. 29, covering Oct. 29 to Nov. 1

The forecast for this period has been playing out pretty close to what the weather models were predicting, but with a few small differences. For Alberta, the forecasted upper ridge does not look like it will get nearly as strong as originally forecasted as a strong northwesterly flow helps to flatten the ridge. This means […] Read more


CBOT January 2024 soybeans with 20-day moving average (right column) and CBOT December 2023 soymeal (dark green line, left column). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans, soymeal climb on demand

CBOT wheat falls; gains in soy help lift corn

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rallied and soymeal hit a contract high on Friday on strong demand for U.S. supplies, analysts said. U.S. soymeal exports are on their way to new highs this season after a poor soybean harvest in top soymeal exporter Argentina earlier this year. Domestic soymeal users, […] Read more

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

U.S. grains: Wheat up off two-week low on Ukraine export uncertainty

Ukraine denies suspension of Black Sea export corridor

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose from a two-week low on Thursday on jitters about supply risks from the Ukraine war. Ukraine, a major grain exporter, has been using a Black Sea shipping channel to try to revive its seaborne shipments without Russian approval after Moscow in July quit a […] Read more


File photo of Rabobank’s office building in Utrecht. (Rabobank.com)

More acres expected for soybeans, canola, Rabobank says

RaboResearch arm sees Canada's exporters 'struggling' with margins

MarketsFarm — Farmers in the U.S. will seed more soybeans in 2024-25, with Canadian canola plantings also expected to rise to a lesser extent, according to a grains and oilseeds analyst with RaboResearch Food and AgriBusiness, a division of the Dutch multinational bank Rabobank at the firm’s Fall Harvest Outlook webinar. During the Wednesday webinar, […] Read more

ICE January 2024 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola pulling lower

Futures subject to 'financial gravity'

MarketsFarm — Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange kicked off the week of Oct. 23-27 with sharp losses, as the most heavily traded January contract busted through its support level of $700 per tonne. Among the reasons for canola’s steep fall, as David Derwin pointed out, were the better than average yields from this year’s […] Read more


File photo of laker vessels navigating the Welland Canal. (JonathanNicholls/iStock/Getty Images)

Seaway strike backs up Ontario grain

Prairie grain may follow suit if strike backs up traffic via Thunder Bay, GFO warns

The nature of eastern Canadian grain logistics, and a strike by St. Lawrence Seaway workers who operate the system’s canals, will see cascading impacts across the system if the situation isn’t resolved quickly, according to Crosby Devitt, CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario. Unifor workers in both Ontario and Quebec walked off the job Sunday […] Read more

CBOT December 2023 corn with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat futures sag as beneficial rains hit South America

Rains benefit Argentina's core farmland

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain and soybean futures ended lower on Wednesday as favourable rains reached crop belts in South America and the U.S., analysts said. Traders are watching global weather after drought has hurt crop production in Argentina and the U.S. Plains and slowed soybean plantings in Brazil. South American conditions are particularly […] Read more



(Photo: Dave Bedard/File)

Little change in AAFC’s October supply/demand outlook

Canola, wheat, pea carryout estimates unchanged

MarketsFarm — Supply/demand estimates for Canadian grains and oilseeds saw little change in the latest outlook for principal field crops from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) released Monday. Canola ending stocks for 2023-24 were left unchanged at one million tonnes, which compares with the 2022-23 level of 1.506 million tonnes. Canadian canola exports in 2023-24 […] Read more