(Dave Bedard photo)

B.C. to punch up AgriStability

Reference margin limit eliminated for 2019, 2020

British Columbia plans to make another $9 million available to farmers through “enhancements” to AgriStability for the 2019 and 2020 program years. The province on Thursday announced it will increase the compensation rate available through the federal/provincial income stabilization program from 70 per cent to 80 per cent when margins fall below the 30 per […] Read more


CBOT March 2020 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans, wheat fall as coronavirus spreads

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures fell on Friday, their ninth straight day of losses, as concerns about the coronavirus cutting into Chinese demand beat back any attempts at a bargain-buying bounce, traders said. The losing streak marks the longest for the most-active soybean futures contract since a 10-day stretch that […] Read more

Farmers dump bags of corn grain in front of the Papineau riding office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal, as they protest the lack of propane due to the CN strike, on Nov. 25, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Christinne Muschi)

CN conductors approve post-strike deal

Canadian National Railway’s conductors and yard workers have voted for at least another two and a half years of labour peace with the company. The affected employees, members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, voted 91.3 per cent to ratify a three-year contract with CN, retroactive to last July 23, the union said in a […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. EPA reaffirms glyphosate does not cause cancer

Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday it finished a regulatory review that found glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the United States, is not a carcinogen. The conclusion reaffirms the agency’s stance on glyphosate, the key ingredient in Bayer’s Roundup, despite judgments by U.S. juries that have found […] Read more


CBOT March 2020 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day mopving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans set eight-month low

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell for an eighth consecutive session on Thursday and hit an eight-month low as the rising toll from the coronavirus outbreak in China added to concerns about Chinese demand for American crops. Wheat also eased and set a three-week low on the Chicago Board of Trade as the […] Read more

CBOT March 2020 wheat with Bollinger (20,2) bands and 30-day moving average (in purple). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn, soybeans drop

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell 1.4 per cent on Wednesday on a round of follow-through selling after Tuesday’s technical setback, traders said. The weakness in wheat spilled over to the corn market, which also faced some profit-taking after a higher opening during the overnight trading session. Soybean futures fell for the seventh […] Read more

A guest looks at their corn cob-themed tie signed by U.S. President Donald Trump during a signing ceremony for the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Jan. 29, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Leah Millis)

Trump signs CUSMA pact

Canada's ratification still to come

Washington | Reuters — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a new North American trade agreement during an outdoor ceremony at the White House attended by about 400 guests — but not the key Democrats who helped secure congressional passage of the deal. Trump, on trial in the U.S. Senate on charges of abusing power […] Read more


British wheat growers get higher yields than in Ontario due to more even climate, but their wheat growing lessons can apply here.

Data sharing in yield networks creating new knowledge on British wheat

Very high yields are possible and work is being done to find limitations

Farmers are the greatest manageable variable affecting wheat yields, says British consultants who run yield networks of top producers. The biggest difference is not region or variety, or soil type, says Roger Sylvester-Bradley, with ADAS, the largest agriculture consultant group in the United Kingdom. Instead, the largest effect on yield is firstly a mix of […] Read more

CBOT March 2020 wheat with five-, 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy, wheat extend losing streaks

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell on Tuesday for the sixth day in a row, with investors waiting for signs of the pickup in Chinese demand promised when Washington and Beijing signed the Phase One trade deal on Jan. 15, traders said. Wheat futures also drifted lower, their third straight day of losses, […] Read more