CBOT July 2021 wheat (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange, dark green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat dip ahead of WASDE

Market eyes U.S. supply-demand reports for price direction

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn futures fell on Monday, pausing after rallying to eight-year highs last week, with traders focusing on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s upcoming world supply-demand (WASDE) report for new price direction. Wheat dipped, supported by beneficial rains across the U.S. Great Plains, while soybeans traded mixed on continued tight supplies. […] Read more

Corn seedlings on June 1, 2020. (Farmtario photo by John Greig)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy futures hit multi-year highs on supply fears

Dryness in Brazil fuels supply fears

Chicago | Reuters — Concerns that global crop supplies will remain lean pushed Chicago Board of Trade corn futures to their highest price since March 2013 on Friday, while soybean futures reached their highest since October 2012. The markets surged before the weekend as traders braced for the potential of further rallies driven by tightening […] Read more



CBOT July 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (dark green line) and December 2021 corn (yellow line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn futures pierce eight-year peak

Soy rallies on supply worries

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures extended a rally above eight-year highs on Thursday as dry weather threatened harvest yields in major exporter Brazil and kept traders’ focus on ebbing global supplies. Soybeans approached an 8-1/2-year peak reached last week, buoyed by rallying vegetable oil prices, and wheat was also higher. […] Read more


Toban Dyck: Policy battles and progress

Toban Dyck: Policy battles and progress

There used to be a thing called the Manitoba Pool Elevators. It was a grain company founded in the early 1900s, but its history and trajectory through the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and Agricore United is not the topic of this column. There are two filing cabinets in our basement. They contain farm records from before […] Read more



CBOT July 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (orange line) and December 2021 corn (dark green line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn exceeds eight-year high on global supply worries

Soybean, wheat futures also finish higher

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures touched their highest price in more than eight years on Wednesday as concerns over global supplies and strong demand continued to fuel strong gains. A blistering rally in the market has raised costs for global producers of corn-based ethanol and of meat made from livestock […] Read more

Nutrien’s potash mine at Lanigan, Sask., about 100 km southeast of Saskatoon. (Nutrien.com)

New Nutrien CEO to carry out current strategy

Schmidt to focus on potash price over boosting sales

Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian fertilizer and farm dealer Nutrien will continue its existing business strategy, including a focus on supporting global potash prices over maximizing sales, new CEO Mayo Schmidt said Tuesday. Surging prices of corn, soybeans and canola have given North American farmers more incentive to spend on fertilizer, lifting crop nutrient prices […] Read more


CBOT July 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange, dark green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn tops $7 for first time since 2013 in most-active contract

High corn prices are not destroying demand, Bunge CEO says

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures on Tuesday topped US$7 a bushel in the most-active contract for the first time since 2013 as unfavourably dry crop weather in Brazil kept attention on tightening global supplies. Surging prices have done little to curb robust demand for corn used to feed livestock and produce ethanol, opening […] Read more

A hemp plant in Alberta. (Jennifer Blair photo)

Hemp poised for year of gains

Nationwide increase in acres expected

MarketsFarm — The hemp industry in Canada is set for a good year in 2021, according to Canadian Hemp Trade Association (CHTA) CEO Ted Haney. “It looks like we are looking at another 15 to 20 per cent increase in seeded acres nationally, which should take us over the 100,000-acre level for sure,” he said. […] Read more