A tractor-mounted snowblower runs through rows of piled-up surplus potatoes on a field near Victoria, P.E.I., about 35 km west of Charlottetown, on Dec. 20, 2021. The shredded potatoes are expected to break down over the winter as compost. (Screengrab from P.E.I. Potato Board video)

Feds put up funds toward managing P.E.I. potato surplus

Ottawa budgets $28 million for distribution and disposal

Prince Edward Island potatoes locked out of the U.S. export market will go either to food banks or “environmentally-sound” disposal with new federal funding. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Monday announced $28 million “to support the diversion of surplus potatoes, including help to redirect surplus potatoes to organizations addressing food insecurity and support for […] Read more

A microscope-level view of damaged brain tissue from a cow infected with BSE. (USDA photo via U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

‘Atypical’ BSE shows up in Alberta cow

Spontaneous case won't affect Canada's 'negligible risk' status, CFIA says

Updated –– Canada’s first case of BSE since the country achieved “negligible risk” status for the brain-wasting cattle disease isn’t expected to affect trade in Canadian beef. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday it has notified the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) of a case of “atypical” bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in an […] Read more


A sunflower crop north of St. Adolphe, Man. on Sept. 19, 2021. (Dave Bedard photo)

USDA expects canola, sunflowers elsewhere to offset Canada’s shortfalls

MarketsFarm –– Good canola and rapeseed crops in Australia and a number of other parts of the world along with large world sunflower seed production should help offset Canada’s smaller-than-expected production somewhat, according to the December oil crops outlook from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Total global canola/rapeseed production is now forecast by USDA at […] Read more

Canadian Drought Monitor map of drought conditions and intensity in Canada at Nov. 30, 2021. (AAFC)

Precipitation eases drought conditions on Prairies

Hardest-hit Manitoba sees 'modest' improvements

MarketsFarm — Varied amounts of precipitation are either maintaining or alleviating drought conditions in much of the Prairies, according to the latest nationwide drought map from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM). The latest assessment for the period ended Nov. 30 showed very few areas of worsening drought in the region with […] Read more


CBOT March 2022 wheat (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange and dark green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat hits one-month low on USDA projections

Corn, soybean futures rise

Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. wheat futures slumped to a one-month low on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast larger-than-expected global production and stocks in a monthly report that reinforced a recent spate of bearish news. Corn and soybean futures tracked wheat lower, but promptly rebounded from their lows on speculative and technical […] Read more

File photo of goats on display at the Hanover Agricultural Fair in Grunthal, Man. in August 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. to lift BSE-related rules off sheep, goat imports

New scrapie-specific rules take effect next month

U.S. restrictions that have hindered that country’s imports of live Canadian sheep and goats, going back to the start of the BSE crisis in 2003, are set to be scrapped and replaced with rules applying specifically to scrapie. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Friday published a new […] Read more


(Lentils.ca)

Pulse weekly outlook: Lentil prices steady to lower despite supply cuts

Lentil crop smallest in almost a decade

MarketsFarm — Just like many other crops in Western Canada, lentil production was cut sharply due to this year’s drought. Canada’s lentil crop was reduced by 37.2 per cent to 1.802 million tonnes for the 2021-22 marketing year, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) principal crop estimates from Friday. The total represents Canada’s lowest […] Read more

P.E.I. Ag Minister Bloyce Thompson announces a $10 million contingency fund to support potato growers affected by a new ban on exports to the U.S. and calls on Ottawa to reverse its decision. (Government of P.E.I. video screengrab via Facebook Live)

P.E.I. potato exports to U.S. halted

Canada imposes new rules after potato wart findings

Canada has moved to halt exports of Prince Edward Island potatoes to the United States after findings of potato wart in the province last month — on what federal officials describe as the threat of a U.S. ban. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Monday it has “temporarily suspended” exports of fresh potatoes from P.E.I. […] Read more


Kansas City December 2021 wheat (candlesticks) with CBOT December 2021 wheat (orange line) and MGEX December 2021 wheat (green line, left column). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn, soy ease on profit-taking

Canada's latest export disruptions supportive

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures closed lower on Thursday, with K.C. hard red winter wheat and MGEX spring wheat falling from multiyear peaks on a round of profit-taking. Declines were kept in check by concerns about tight supplies and strong demand, factors that pushed Paris wheat to a 14-year high. Profit taking also […] Read more

A view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. border reopens to Canadian land travelers

Travel business sees 'tremendous pent-up demand'

Toronto | Reuters — A steady stream of Canadian visitors, particularly retirees headed to U.S. sun spots, crossed the U.S. border by car on Monday for the first time in 20 months as Washington lifted travel restrictions. Traffic was heavy at times at some U.S. border posts such as Bluewater Bridge, Michigan near Sarnia, Ont., […] Read more