CBOT December 2022 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange and green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn hits two-month high on heat, dryness concerns

Soybeans ease as crop tour sees large U.S. harvest

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures set a two-month high on Monday after a U.S. crop tour last week found damage from hot, dry weather and organizers projected harvests would fall short of government estimates. Wheat futures rallied to their highest level in about seven weeks, while soybeans fell after the […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canadian crop production bounces back, StatCan reports

Wheat at higher end of trade projections

MarketsFarm — After 2021’s historic drought on the Prairies caused crop production to fall to historic lows, the 2022 harvest has mostly bounced back to pre-drought levels, according to Statistics Canada. StatCan on Monday released its July 2022 satellite image-based principal field crop production estimates, which confirmed analysts’ expectations that this year’s crop production would […] Read more


CBOT December 2022 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange and dark green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn up on crop tour’s lowered expectations

Hot, dry weather seen limiting U.S. corn, soy yields

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures jumped on Friday on concerns about hot and dry weather reducing U.S. yields, analysts said. After the close of trading, advisory service Pro Farmer projected a U.S. corn harvest of 13.759 billion bushels, which would be the smallest since 2019 and below government […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Greater crop production estimated prior to StatCan report

Extended time lag between survey, data's release criticized

MarketsFarm — Analysts are expecting Canadian crop production totals for the 2022-23 marketing year to be substantially higher compared to drought-stricken 2021-22, but still not enough to fully replenish supplies. Statistics Canada (StatCan) will publish its first satellite image model-based yield and production estimates for principal field crops on Monday. Traders and analysts are interested […] Read more


CBOT November 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans, wheat, corn fall as traders book profits

Dispatches from crop tour limit day's losses

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybeans, wheat and corn futures fell on Thursday on a profit-taking setback after rallying earlier in the week, traders said. “We are just running into a bit of technical resistance across the board,” said Dan O’Bryan, a risk management specialist and broker at Top Third StoneX. “You […] Read more

Stuart Chutter, product coordinator for Alberta’s Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC), says research has shown the leading factor to reducing the risk of yield loss on the farm is high soil organic matter. One day, crop insurance rates may reflect that.

What’s the relationship between soil organic matter and crop insurance?

Adjusting insurance premiums based on soil quality factors is an idea now being discussed

This is all just in the thinking stage right now, but the day may come when farms that can demonstrate production practices that maintain high levels of soil organic matter may qualify for reduced crop insurance premiums. It is a concept being pondered right now by Alberta’s crop insurance agency, the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation […] Read more


CBOT December 2022 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange and green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn firms for sixth session in a row

Soybeans weak, wheat strong

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures steadied after hitting their highest in nearly two months on Wednesday, underpinned by concerns that hot and dry weather in the Midwest during key crop development periods limited how big the fall harvest will be, traders said. Wheat futures were strong, notching their fourth straight day of gains, […] Read more

ICE November 2022 canola (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and 100-day moving average (green line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Time gap too large in StatCan report

Canola's potential yields shrank in meantime

MarketsFarm — There has been about a one-month gap in between Statistics Canada having gathered its data for next week’s principal crops report and actually releasing the report. That’s something trader Ken Ball of PI Financial in Winnipeg finds irksome. “They’re using computer models of some kind. You would think they could get this out […] Read more


(Omersukrugoksu/iStock/Getty Images)

Ukraine restores Moldova rail link

Rail line could carry 10 million tonnes of freight per year

Reuters — Ukraine has restored a rail link to neighbouring Moldova after a 23-year hiatus and the connection could carry 10 million tonnes of freight a year, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address on Monday. Although he did not specify what kinds of goods, Ukraine is keen to find new ways to export […] Read more