Tighter special crops stocks: Ag Canada

Commodity News Service Canada — Canadian pulse and special crop ending stocks are forecast to be slightly tighter than earlier estimates, according to updated supply/demand tables released by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Market Analysis Division late Friday, December 19. Ag Canada pegged 2014/15 specialty crop ending stocks at 345,000 tonnes, which compares with the November […] Read more

Co-ops put Que. urea plant plan on ‘pause’

Development work toward a major new nitrogen fertilizer plant in Quebec is on hold while its partners seek more investors to climb on board. IFFCO — the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative, one of India’s largest fertilizer makers — and Quebec agrifood co-operative giant La Coop federee said Tuesday they’ve suspended preparation of “preliminary plans and […] Read more



U.S. Grains: Profit taking pulls U.S. wheat lower, soy sags

U.S. wheat futures fell 3.5 per cent on Friday, stepping back from their highest in more than six months on a round of profit-taking ahead of a holiday-shortened week, traders said. The drop in wheat weighed on corn, but signs of strong export demand limited selling in the yellow grain. Soybeans also were weak on forecasts for crop-boosting rain in […] Read more


U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle climb before USDA report

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Friday, on short-covering and positioning before the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly Cattle-On-Feed report at 2 p.m. CST (2000 GMT). Analysts expect the data to show high-priced calves prompted feedlots to buy fewer of them for fattening. Sluggish wholesale beef demand and uncertainty regarding prices for […] Read more

CN to pay WGRF $5.2 million

CN to pay WGRF $5.2 million

The Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF) says it will receive $5,231,011 from CN Rail for exceeding its revenue entitlement for 2013-14. The Canadian Transportation Agency ruled Dec. 18 that CN has exceeded its maximum revenue entitlement under legislation that caps the revenue it can receive for grain during the crop year. CP was found to […] Read more


Russian grain exporters stop buying

Russian grain exporters stop buying

Moscow / Reuters — A Russian grain exporters’ group that accounts for about three-quarters of the country’s shipments said on Friday it had stopped buying for export until domestic prices cool down. The move follows informal government measures to restrict exports as Moscow tackles a currency crisis, including through toughening of quality controls and a […] Read more

CWB wheat PROs rise with recent rally in U.S. futures

Commodity News Service Canada — CWB has raised Pool Return Outlooks (PROs) for wheat in its latest report, due to a recent sharp rally in U.S. wheat futures. Wheat PROs were anywhere from $15 to $30 per tonne higher, with uncertainty over Russian winter wheat exports behind the advances. Crop conditions for U.S. and European […] Read more


Louis Dreyfus Yorkton plant reopens

Louis Dreyfus Yorkton plant reopens

Commodity News Service Canada — The Louis Dreyfus canola crushing plant in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, is officially back in operation after an explosion at a meal storage facility in late October forced the plant to close for a number of weeks, says a Dec. 18 statement from the company. “We are pleased to announce that operations […] Read more

Photo: iStock

New record corn yield — 503 bushels

Randy Dowdy of Valdosta, Georgia has been declared winner of the U.S. National Corn Growers Association 2014 National Corn Yield Contest with an all-time record of 503 bushels per acre. The 18 winners in six production categories had verified yields averaging more than 383.6 bushels per acre, compared to the projected national average of 173.4 […] Read more