(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Spring wheat vaults higher, durum nudges up

U.S. wheat futures, Canadian dollar up on week

MarketsFarm — Spring wheat prices on the Canadian Prairies experienced sharp upticks while gains for durum were much more subdued. A drop in U.S. wheat ratings fueled the upswing in wheat prices, as dry conditions took further hold with approximately 15 per cent of U.S. spring wheat now in drought. While that’s up four points […] Read more

CBOT December 2023 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans, wheat fall ahead of weekend

Rainfall in U.S. Midwest forecasts

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures fell to one-week lows on Friday, pressured by forecasts for beneficial rains in the U.S. Midwest, traders said. Wheat futures also were lower, with traders locking in profits from a rally that has pushed prices higher for five weeks in a row. Signs […] Read more


CME August 2023 feeder cattle with 30-, 40- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle rally as corn prices sag

Live cattle, lean hogs down

Chicago | Reuters — CME Group feeder cattle contracts rallied on Friday, their second day of gains, as weakening corn prices cut into feed costs and boosted profit margins at packers. Hog futures were weaker on follow-through selling after Thursday’s sharp decline. The August CME feeder cattle contract gained 3.275 cents, to 233.95 cents/lb., rising […] Read more

Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus at Istanbul on Dec. 11, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Yoruk Isik)

Ukraine ‘99.9 per cent’ certain Russia will quit Black Sea deal next month

Russia wants demands met on ammonia shipments

Kyiv | Reuters — Russia is 99.9 per cent certain to quit a U.N.-brokered deal on the safe wartime passage of Black Sea grain next month because it no longer needs Ukrainian ports to export ammonia, a senior Ukrainian diplomat said. The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Moscow and […] Read more


Photo: alisbalb/iStock/Getty Images

Feds lift ‘pause’ on increases in crop chemical MRLs

New set of rules also calls for 'cosmetic' pesticide use to be banned on federal lands

Proposals to increase a crop chemical’s maximum residue limits (MRLs) on foods and food crops in Canada can again seek federal approval, after being put on temporary hold two years ago. Among several other changes, a planned new package of federal regulatory amendments will put a gradual end to a “pause” imposed in August 2021 […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Rains lift interest, prices

Dry conditions in U.S. Corn Belt supportive

MarketsFarm — When Alberta was dry, feed prices drew little interest according to Susanne Leclerc of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton. But that changed after some timely rains, with prices on the rise. “There’s more demand than we have seen in a while,” Leclerc said. “When crops were looking crappy and people were worried about […] Read more


CBOT November 2023 soybeans with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy, corn down off multi-month highs

CBOT winter wheat firm

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures fell on Thursday, pressured by a round of profit-taking and some weather outlooks that called for relief to drought-stricken crops in the U.S. Midwest, traders said. “The markets have obviously been overbought on the run-up here on weather,” said Mark Soderberg, grains research […] Read more

CME August 2023 live cattle with 10-, 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Cattle futures rise, hogs fall

Feeder cattle back in Bollinger range

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures firmed on Thursday, rebounding from a sharp decline a day earlier on support from weakness in the corn market. Live cattle futures also closed higher but hog contracts weakened, extending a sell-off that started on Wednesday as traders said the market remained technically overbought. Analysts […] Read more


(Dave Bedard/File photo)

AAFC’s June supply/demand estimates mostly unchanged

Corn exports adjusted upward

MarketsFarm — Monthly supply/demand projections from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada were left mostly unchanged in June, as the department awaits updated acreage estimates from Statistics Canada at the end of the month. Only corn saw any adjustments in the numbers from May, with a 200,000-tonne increase in 2022-23 exports, now at 2.05 million tonnes, resulting […] Read more

(Jimfeng/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. to boost biofuel mandates over next three years

Biofuel groups still feel shortchanged

Reuters — The Biden administration on Wednesday increased the amount of biofuels that oil refiners must blend into the United States’ fuel mix over the next three years, but the plan has angered the biofuel industry, which says mandates for corn-based ethanol and biodiesel are not high enough. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized […] Read more