Female soybean cyst nematodes feeding on soybean plant roots form bulbous, egg-filled nodules from which their young hatch the following spring. (Keith Weller photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Soybean cyst nematode confirmed in Manitoba

A damaging soybean pest that was expected to show up sooner or later in agricultural Manitoba has officially arrived. Crop surveys by University of Manitoba Ph.D. student Nazanin Ghavami with soil science professor Mario Tenuta and his students have turned up soybean cyst nematode at “extremely low” levels on soybean plant roots in one field […] Read more

(Sakakawea7/iStock/Getty Images)

Trump trade-war aid sows frustration in farm country

Rochester, Minnesota | Reuters — The U.S. government is paying Texas cotton farmer J. Walt Hagood US$145 an acre for losses related to U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies. But Minnesota soybean farmer Betsy Jensen will get just US$35 an acre. Both farmers’ sales have taken heavy blows in Trump’s trade war with China. Neither […] Read more



The Chicago Board of Trade building on May 28, 2018. (Harmantasdc/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Expected U.S. soybean, corn yields down

MarketsFarm –– The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) September supply and demand report saw downward revisions for corn and soybeans, but kept its estimates for wheat where they were in August. The department on Thursday released its new world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE). “Prices rallied after the report came out because of the […] Read more


A corn crop west of Grunthal, Man. on Aug. 17, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan forecasts near-record corn crop

MarketsFarm — Canada’s corn crop is forecast to be the second largest on record despite a delayed start to spring planting, as yields showed an improvement from earlier forecasts, according to updated production estimates Thursday from Statistics Canada. Using a combination of satellite imagery, previous survey data, and agro-climatic data, the latest Statistics Canada report […] Read more



Barry Senft, shown here at the Ottawa Valley Farm Show in a 2017 GFO video, is stepping down in April as the organization’s chief executive. (GFO video screengrab via YouTube)

Grain Farmers of Ontario seeking new CEO

Ontario’s biggest ag commodity organization is on the hunt for a new CEO as its first chief prepares to exit. Barry Senft announced Tuesday he will step down as CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario in April 2020, a post he’s held since the 2009 merger of the province’s corn, soy and wheat grower groups […] Read more

CBOT December 2019 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn hits contract lows on sluggish exports, mild weather

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell to life-of-contract lows on Friday, pressured by disappointing weekly U.S. export data and forecasts for benign weather in the heart of the Midwest crop belt, analysts said. Soybeans turned down, retreating from early advances, and wheat followed the lower trend. Chicago Board of Trade December corn settled […] Read more