Viktor and Sergiy Shipov say they’ll harvest a crop this year, despite the challenges from the war. (Photo: Ihor Pavliuk/Oleksandr)

Farming behind the lines: Growers in Ukraine plant amid hostilities close by

'We started the sowing campaign by removing rockets from the field'

Viktor and Sergiy Shipov are used to adversity. Viktor established a farming company in southern Ukraine 20 years ago, in the Mykolaiv Oblast, where hellish heat and lack of rainfall can make the land look like the Sahara Desert with yellow dunes. This is a corner of the classic Ukrainian steppe, where rainfall is very […] Read more


AAFC’s Drought Monitor map at April 30, 2022. (Agriculture.canada.ca)

Drought gone in Manitoba but worsening in Alberta, AAFC reports

MarketsFarm — Record-breaking precipitation in southern Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan helped improve moisture conditions in the region in April, taking much of the area out of the drought classification, according to the latest Drought Monitor report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) for the period ended April 30. Two separate Colorado lows brought significant snow, […] Read more

CBOT July 2022 corn (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans ease on expected planting progress

Weather in U.S., India, France adds to Ukraine wheat supply fears

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures fell on Monday to five-week lows as warmer U.S. weather expedited planting progress, deflating fears of added soybean acres and further cuts to corn plantings, traders said. Wheat remained underpinned by dry conditions in the U.S. and French growing belts, reinforcing global supply concerns. The most-active Chicago Board […] Read more


(WWing/E+/Getty Images)

StatsCan reports sharp decline in field crop stocks

Stocks tighter than most traders had estimated

MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada’s report on the country’s principal field crop stocks, released Friday, reflects an ever-tightening supply brought on by last year’s drought. With the exception of corn and soybeans, all of the crops listed suffered a supply decline of at least 10 per cent compared to the year before, as of March 31. […] Read more

(Government of Alberta via Flickr)

Alberta seeding ahead of five-year average

MarketsFarm — While spring planting in Alberta is 12.2 per cent complete overall there’s a disparity between the south and the rest of the province. Also, the pace was 2.6 points above the five-year average, but 5.2 behind last year. As of Tuesday, Alberta Agriculture found seeding in the south was at 36.5 per cent […] Read more


CBOT July 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans, corn slide on Midwest weather forecasts

Wheat tumbles after rally, poised for weekly gain

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn and soybean futures slid on Friday as rising interest rates and currency pressures weighed on U.S. exports and forecasts of warm, dry weather opened a window for Midwestern farmers to get their crop planted. Recent rainfall in South America could boost Brazil’s south-central corn crop, which on Friday was […] Read more

(Lightguard/iStock/Getty Images)

Seeding already behind in Saskatchewan

MarketsFarm — Saskatchewan Agriculture on Thursday issued its first weekly crop report of 2022, showing only one per cent of all crops in the ground. The report cited cool temperatures and spring snowstorms holding back many farmers getting into their fields. The overall five-year average at this time of year is five per cent complete. […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Chicago wheat climbs on new global supply concerns

Corn pressured by hopes of planting progress

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat climbed for a second session on Thursday, underpinned by hot and dry weather across India that is likely to diminish that nation’s wheat export potential, while similar conditions erode U.S. winter wheat crops. Soybean and corn futures added after trading near even all day, as global supplies remain uncertain […] Read more

Yuri and Oleksiy, farmers wearing body armours and helmets, prepare for field work in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region amid Russia’s invasion, on April 26, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

Worsening global food security needs Ukraine, Russia production, UN chief says

Abuja | Reuters — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday the problem of global food security could not be solved without restoring Ukrainian agricultural production and Russian food and fertilizer output to the world market. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has added to volatility in financial markets, sending commodity prices higher and affecting logistics, […] Read more