Chicago | Reuters — CME Group, owner of the Chicago Board of Trade grain exchange, said on Wednesday it had no immediate plans to introduce its controversial variable storage rate (VSR) scheme in its CBOT corn futures, the world pricing benchmark for the biggest and most valuable feed grain. “We have no current plans to […] Read more
CME says no current plans to introduce VSR in corn futures
Calculators needed to make sense of Prairie wheat bids
CNS Canada — Consistent wheat pricing can still be a struggle to find across Western Canada, two years into the new open market. A lack of consistency can make it difficult to compare pricing from one delivery point to the next, leaving farmers uncertain just how much their wheat is worth. While one elevator may […] Read more
Retired Thompsons Ltd. chief Wes Thompson, 87
A small family service is to be held Friday for the second-generation head of storied Ontario commodity handler and ag retail firm Thompsons Ltd. Wes D. Thompson, son of company founder Wesley G. Thompson and president of the family business from 1950 to 1993, died Monday in hospital in Chatham, Ont. of unspecified causes at […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle, hogs end mixed after choppy session
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle closed narrowly mixed on Tuesday after a volatile session, pressured by lower wholesale beef values but supported by futures’ discount to last week’s cash prices, traders said. October live cattle finished down 0.05 cent per pound at 155.45 cents, and December up 0.075 cent to 158.725 […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans sink to four-year lows as harvest advances
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures fell to four-year lows on Tuesday as mild and mostly dry weather across the U.S. Midwest is expected to boost the harvest of record crops. Wheat fell in tandem with retreating corn and soy, anchored by plentiful global supplies and strong competition for export business. Chicago […] Read more
Lethbridge cash barley market feeling pressure
CNS Canada — The cash barley market in the strategically important area of Lethbridge, Alta. is under pressure right now because of weather issues and a delayed harvest, industry watchers said. “The market is under a bit of pressure but we’re not getting hit with any great volume yet,” said Allen Pirness, senior trader at […] Read more
CN fines over grain shipments to proceed, Ritz says
Ottawa | Reuters — The Canadian government dismissed on Tuesday complaints from Canadian National Railway (CN) that fines for failing to ship the required minimum amounts of grain were unfair because there was not enough demand. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said there was a backlog of grain waiting for CN to move, even though it […] Read more
Yara, CF in talks to create $27.5B global fertilizer producer
Oslo | Reuters — Norway’s Yara and Chicago-based CF Industries are in talks about a merger of equals that would create a US$27.5 billion global fertilizer producer to rival world No. 1 PotashCorp in an oversupplied and fragmented market. The deal would give Yara, the world’s biggest nitrate fertiliser maker, major production units in the […] Read more
PEDv hits third SE Manitoba hog farm
Manitoba’s hog producer body is taking farmers to task for “risky practices” following confirmation of the province’s third case of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED). Manitoba’s chief veterinary office (CVO) confirmed Friday and announced Monday that a sow farm in the province’s southeast is the third to have animals with the PED virus (PEDv). Two hog […] Read more
N.B. ag minister among unseated Tories in election loss
New Brunswick’s incumbent agriculture minister is among the election-night casualties for Premier David Alward’s Tories as the provincial Liberals get set to return to government. Michael Olscamp, the Tories’ minister of agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries since 2010 and MLA for the Sackville-area riding of Tantramar, lost his seat Monday against Bernard LeBlanc, the Liberals’ MLA […] Read more