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

U.S. grains: Soybeans ease on South American rainfall

Wheat underpinned by Black Sea supply worry; corn adds on strong export inspections

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybeans fell on Monday, pressured by rainfall in parts of South America that could refresh parched crops as Argentina and southern Brazil near harvest. CBOT corn and wheat ended higher after earlier losses, with corn underpinned by strong export inspections and wheat weighing tensions between Russia and Ukraine that could […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Link broken in glyphosate supply chain, Bayer says

Company provides heads-up on 'force majeure event'

No one is yet using the word ‘shortage’ but farmers may need to get ready for less Roundup temporarily, following a “force majeure” event at a plant supplying an ingredient in the recipe for glyphosate. Bayer, the chemical company whose Roundup brand remains the best known of the glyphosate herbicides, reported as much in an […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Soy rises on South American crop woes

Wheat, corn futures rally

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Friday on diminishing harvest estimates in South America, though trading remained volatile a day after prices reached a nine-month high, analysts said. Corn and wheat futures jumped on increased concerns that Russia may invade Ukraine and disrupt grain shipments from the Black Sea […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

CP conductors, engineers taking strike vote

Teamster-led workers' deal expired at end of 2021

Unionized conductors, engineers, trainmen and yardmen for Canadian Pacific Railway are getting their ballots for a strike vote this month, as contract talks have again wound up in dispute. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), which represents about 3,000 CP employees in those categories, said strike ballots were being distributed to members starting Feb. 1, […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Soy, corn end lower in volatile sell-off

Wheat down off early strength

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean and corn futures closed lower on Thursday after a wild session, retreating after a run-up to multi-month highs as a wave of profit-taking and farmer selling overshadowed support from shrinking estimates of South American crops due to drought, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade March soybeans settled down 20-1/2 […] Read more

A 2018 aerial view of Pipeline Foods’ grain elevator at Gull Lake in southwestern Saskatchewan. (Pipeline Foods video screengrab via YouTube)

Bankrupt organic firm’s Prairie growers to be paid

CGC to issue compensation

Over four dozen Prairie grain growers who supplied a Minneapolis firm specializing in organic and non-GMO grains will get paid in full, the Canadian Grain Commission says. The CGC on Tuesday announced the results of its review of producer claims in the wake of last July’s bankruptcy filing by Pipeline Foods, whose footprint in Canada […] Read more



Greenleaf Foods, a subsidiary of meat processor Maple Leaf Foods, last month began providing its plant-based Lightlife Chick’n Tenders to convenience chain 7-Eleven in Canada. (Dave Bedard photo)

ADM releases alternative protein outlook for 2022

MarketsFarm — Major U.S. agribusiness ADM released a report Tuesday identifying the seven biggest trends in the alternative protein market, ranging from creating new protein sources from fungi to making plant-based meat substitutes more affordable and palatable to the general public. The seven trends in the report were: introduction of novel protein sources, using microbial […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Corn, soy futures set eight-month highs

USDA lowers South America corn, soy crop estimates

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean and corn futures set eight-month highs on Wednesday on concerns about the risk for more unfavorable crop weather in drought-stressed growing areas of South America, traders said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a monthly crop report, pegged Brazil’s soy crop at 134 million tonnes, […] Read more

An autosampler is one of the devices used to analyze soils.

Soil tests more valuable than ever

This is the year you might see a big payback from spring soil sampling

Oftentimes, finding the right formula for applying fertilizer can be a delicate balancing act for farmers. Apply too much or in the wrong place, you’ve wasted some money. Apply too little or not where it’ll benefit most, and you can lose money by failing to maximize your yield potential. And as soil fertility expert Don […] Read more