Fed cattle in Alberta were trading at $191 this past week, which set a positive tone in the feeder complex. Across the Prairies, heavier quality replacements over 700 pounds posted gains of $2 to $4 while lighter-weight cattle were $3 to $5 higher compared to seven days earlier. Feedlot margins improved with break-even pen closeouts […] Read more
Klassen: Higher fed cattle prices pull up feeder values
McDonald’s vows ‘modern’ makeover amid U.S. sales struggle
Reuters — McDonald’s on Monday vowed to remake itself as a “modern, progressive burger company” after aggressive competition from Chipotle Mexican Grill, Chick-fil-A and myriad “better burger” chains bit into U.S. restaurant sales last month. February ended the run of former CEO Don Thompson. His short tenure included 2014, when falling profit, revenue and traffic […] Read more
CP’s shopcraft staff ratify new labour deal
Repair, maintenance and locomotive and rail car inspection staff at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) have voted to ratify the last-minute deal that kept them off the picket line. The 1,625 unionized workers, represented by Unifor’s CP shopcraft bargaining unit, voted 79 per cent in favour of their four-year deal at membership meetings over the past […] Read more
Canola crush margins still solid near $100
CNS Canada — Canola contracts on the ICE Futures Canada platform have traded within a wide range over the past month, but crush margins continue to hover around the $100 mark. Crush margins provide an indication of the profitability of the product values relative to the seed cost when processing canola, with exchange rates also […] Read more
CWRS wheat bids edge higher, other classes soften
CNS Canada –– Wheat cash bids across Western Canada saw some minor adjustments during the week ended Friday, with Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) bids generally showing some improvement while other classes moved lower. Average CWRS wheat prices were steady to as much as $3 per tonne higher during the week, with bids ranging from […] Read more
CN building bypass around derailed oil cars
Reuters/Staff –– Canadian National Railway’s westbound and eastbound trains are taking wide detours around a derailed train on its main line in northern Ontario while the company builds a bypass for traffic near the crash site. The CN train carrying crude oil that derailed early Saturday near Gogama, Ont., about 100 km south of Timmins, […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat up 1.6 per cent in bounce from contract lows
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. wheat futures rose 1.6 per cent on Monday, bouncing off the previous session’s contract lows on bargain-hunting and short-covering ahead of a monthly U.S. government crop report. Soybeans and corn also climbed in largely technical buying ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s supply/demand report due on Tuesday. At the […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Profit-taking undermines CME live cattle
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle ended lower on Monday, pressured by profit-taking and funds that sold or “rolled” April contracts and simultaneously bought deferred months, traders said. Funds involved in CME’s livestock markets that follow the Standard + Poor’s Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (S+P GSCI) shifted their April positions in a […] Read more
EU farmers fear ‘roller coaster’ as milk market deregulated
Belview Port, Ireland | Reuters –– Billions of euros and thousands of jobs will flow from the historic deregulation of Europe’s dairy sector, a string of Irish ministers promised at the opening this week of a vast new plant to make dried milk for developing markets. But elsewhere in the European Union, many farmers are […] Read more
Monsanto rolls out fababean inoculant
Fababean growers in Canada in the market for a granular inoculant now have their first-ever option. Monsanto BioAg, the joint microbial marketing arm for Novozymes and Monsanto, announced Friday it will now launch TagTeam fababean granular inoculant, which picked up Canadian Food Inspection Agency approval last fall. The product’s CFIA registration covers its dual-action use […] Read more