(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

U.S. grains: Wheat jumps on global crop worries

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures climbed for a second straight day on Thursday on bargain buying following the market’s recent drop and on a weather-reduced wheat crop in Russia, the world’s top exporter. Corn followed wheat higher, underpinned by concerns that heavy rains and flooding in parts of the U.S. Midwest could drag […] Read more


(Photo courtesy United Soybean Board)

U.S. grains: Soy nears 10-year low on trade row, weather

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures plunged to their lowest level in nearly a decade on Tuesday as escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China, the world’s biggest soy buyer, prompted fund-driven selling, analysts said. Corn and wheat followed broad declines in the commodity sector. Favourable weather in the Midwest bolstered corn and […] Read more

(CBSA-asfc.gc.ca)

Trump says ‘getting there’ in NAFTA talks

Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday progress was being made in slow-moving talks to update the NAFTA trade accord between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but he held out the prospect of striking bilateral pacts if a three-way deal could not be reached. “We’re trying to equalize it. It’s not […] Read more

(Dave Clark photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. grains: Corn at contract lows, soy dips below $9

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell to life-of-contract lows on Monday and soybeans briefly dipped below US$9 a bushel for the first time since 2016 as favourable weather outlooks bolstered yield prospects and trade tensions threatened export demand, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures also sagged and K.C. […] Read more


Wayne Vitek plants soybeans with a Smart Firmer on the planter.

More sensors for planters

A seed trench firmer with sensors takes readings every eighth of an inch across the field

As Wayne Vitek drove across a field near Mitchell’s Bay planting soybeans recently, a group of sensors took 200 readings per second at the soil level. A Smart Firmer was in place of where a Keaton Seed firmer might have been, flattening the soil over the seed trench, but also collecting data on soil organic […] Read more

Grain being loaded on a ship at the Hudson Bay port of Churchill in 2015. The port facility was later shut down before the 2016 shipping season began. (CNS Canada photo by Jade Markus)

Transport agency orders Hudson Bay Railway to start repairs

The Canadian Transportation Agency has ordered the current owners of the Hudson Bay Railway to get repair work underway by July 3 at the latest. The CTA — the quasi-judicial tribunal and regulator for the Canadian transport sector — on Wednesday granted a request filed by an unnamed representative of Manitoba’s provincial opposition New Democrats […] Read more