(Dave Bedard photo)

Next StatsCan survey expected to show larger canola, wheat crops

CNS Canada — Yields are generally beating earlier expectations as the harvest progresses across Western Canada, which should lead to upward revisions to canola and wheat when Statistics Canada releases its latest production survey results Friday. However, those numbers still may be underreported, and further revisions are expected in subsequent reports. “As the harvest is […] Read more


Dallas Leduc, who farms near Glentworth, Sask., says he hasn’t run into many problems when it comes to meeting contract requirements, although year-to-year price changes can be frustrating.


The fine print on grain contracts

Lee Hart talks to seven Prairie grain farmers about their experiences 
with grain contracts

Grain contracts: they appear to be a necessary part of doing business for most western Canadian farmers, but how many actually read them? The Canadian Canola Growers Association* has published a handy and informative booklet called, “A Practical Guide to Navigate Grain Contracts.” It is a quick and easy, 21-page read which covers many of the […] Read more

Devil may be in the contract details

A grain contract should work both ways to protect the buyer as well as the seller

It may seem like just a lot of fine print, but farmers are urged to read and understand the whole document before finalizing a contract when selling any commodity, says a manager with the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA).* Farmers need to know their rights, and they also need to understand any clauses that may […] Read more


Air quality index site AQICN.org’s real-time map for Indonesia and surrounding jurisdictions for Sept. 29 at about 7 p.m. CT. The site categorizes readings between 201 to 300 as “very unhealthy” and greater than 300 as “hazardous.” (AQICN.org)

Indonesia making no progress against hazardous haze

Pekanbaru, Indonesia | Reuters — Indonesia has sent nearly 21,000 personnel to fight forest fires raging in its northern islands, the disaster management agency said on Tuesday, but smoke cloaks much of the region with pollution readings in the “very unhealthy” region in neighbouring Singapore. Slash-and-burn agriculture has blanketed Singapore, Malaysia and northern Indonesia in […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. workers sue Monsanto claiming herbicide caused cancer

Reuters — A U.S. farm worker and a horticultural assistant have filed lawsuits claiming Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide caused their cancers and Monsanto intentionally misled the public and regulators about the dangers of the herbicide. The lawsuits come six months after the World Health Organization’s cancer research unit said it was classifying glyphosate, the active weed-killing […] Read more

(USDA.gov via Flickr)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy gain as shorts hunt for cover

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean and corn futures rebounded on Tuesday as traders covered short positions on concerns that the U.S. Agriculture Department would reduce its estimate for last year’s soybean crop. Wheat prices eased back, despite being bolstered earlier in the day by steadying equity and oil prices, and cooling concerns about the […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Liberals, NDP say would clarify foreign takeover rules

Winnipeg | Reuters –– Canada’s Liberal and New Democratic parties, vying to replace the governing Conservatives in a tight three-way election race, both say they would clarify rules around foreign corporate takeovers if they win. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, campaigning in Winnipeg on Tuesday, said foreign investors need clearer rules around takeovers. “(Conservative Prime Minister […] Read more