(William_Potter/iStock/Getty Images)

G7 ag ministers urge end to food export curbs as prices surge

Nations warn against 'speculative behaviour'

Hamburg | Reuters — Global food exporting countries should not restrict food exports after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cut world supplies, agriculture ministers of the G7 group of nations said on Friday. The impact on markets escalated this week as a growing list of food producing countries restricted exports, keeping vital supplies within their borders. […] Read more

Fall rye flowering in south-central Manitoba. (Allan Dawson photo)

Rye in strong position going into 2022

MarketsFarm — Last summer’s drought sharply reduced yields of many crops across the Prairies, leaving multiple supply challenges and rising prices in the aftermath. Western Canadian rye, however, was largely left unscathed, which may bode well for the crop heading into 2022. Rye production came in at 473,000 tonnes for 2021-22, according to Statistics Canada […] Read more


CBOT May 2022 wheat (candlesticks) with MGEX May 2022 spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. May 2022 hard red wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn up; soy down

'Panic... seems to have subsided a bit'

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose on Friday after posting sharp declines in the previous two sessions as traders assessed the latest developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that has disrupted grain shipments. Trading in wheat remained volatile as market participants wrestled with the possible extent of disruption of wheat from Ukraine and […] Read more



CBOT May 2022 wheat (candlesticks) with MGEX May 2022 wheat (yellow line) and K.C. May 2022 wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: CBOT wheat plummets 9.5 per cent

Corn, soybeans rise on strong exports

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell on Thursday, with the most-active Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract plunging 9.5 per cent as traders said the rally sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had made the grain too expensive for potential buyers. “The market is pausing to catch its breath a […] Read more

Anti-tank ‘hedgehogs’ are seen in Maidan Nezalezhnosti Square in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, on March 9, 2022. Farmers are among those assembling the obstacles, set up to block roads against advancing armoured vehicles. (Yevhen Kotenko/Ukrinform/Abacapress.com via Reuters)

Bread and war: Farmers in the fight for Ukraine

Agriculture, being the most important industry in Ukraine, will play a large part in the war, a Ukrainian ag journalist writes

It is very difficult to explain what a person feels when they’re awakened at 5 a.m., when a rocket explodes near their house. That’s exactly what I experienced Feb. 24. The first thing I did was fill my car with gasoline. Then we bought a lot of products we thought we might need — medicines […] Read more


Lastiwka sought out efficient cattle genetics, such as Luing-cross cows, that can make use of a variety of forages. And he says fences may not be in perfect shape, but as long as they work that's the main thing.

Short and long-term thoughts on forage management

Some good lessons to be learned from more than three decades of experience of what works and doesn’t work

A farm without a tractor. Some of the fences could use a bit of work. The cows have been known to eat thistles. And the farmer doesn’t hesitate to say “this really didn’t work out the way I planned.” So could a person trust any advice from this operation? If it was any place other […] Read more

Screenshot from an Alberta Agriculture video profiling Innisfail-based pulse and grain handler W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions. (Alberta Agriculture and Forestry via YouTube)

W.A. Grain’s farmer suppliers to get 80 cents on dollar

CGC program to provide $5.6 million of $7.1 million owed

Farmers owed $7.1 million by W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions, which had facilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan, will get $5.6 million, or about 80 per cent of the money owed to them, via the Canadian Grain Commission’s (CGC) Safeguards for Grain Farmers Program. “While we regret producers didn’t get 100 per cent (of what they […] Read more


soil test

How to develop sulphur fertilizer recommendations

Here’s how to take samples, interpret soil test results and more

In recent Grainews issues, I have discussed developing nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) fertilizer recommendations. I will continue with this theme and discuss developing sulphur (S) fertilizer recommendations in this column. Sulphur deficiency was first observed in Alberta more than 90 years ago on grey wooded soils. Over the past 30 years, sulphur […] Read more

Grain storage at a Russian seaport. (Pridannikov/iStock/Getty Images)

Moscow retaliates against sanctions with export bans

Reuters — Russia sought on Thursday to retaliate against Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine by banning exports of certain goods and agricultural commodities. Exporting telecom, medical, auto, agricultural, electrical and tech equipment, as well as some forestry products, will be banned until the end of 2022. “These measures are a logical response […] Read more