(Dave Bedard photo)

Organic groups call for Ontario regulations

A look at organic regulation across the country by the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA) shows a hodge-podge of support, despite national standards in existence for eight years. In a report released Monday, COTA called out Ontario, the largest market by far for organic products, for having no organic regulations. Five other provinces, including some […] Read more

(Ralph Pearce photo)

U.S. grains: Wheat hits two-week low on spreading

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Board of Trade wheat futures fell to a roughly two-week low on Monday while MGEX spring wheat gained one per cent in wheat spreading as dry conditions stressed the spring wheat crop in the northern U.S. Plains, traders said. Investors were selling most-active CBOT wheat and buying MGEX […] Read more



(USDA.gov via Flickr)

U.S. grains: Corn falls four per cent after USDA data

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell four per cent on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised its U.S. old- and new-crop corn ending stocks forecasts more than most analysts expected. Wheat and soybeans followed corn lower, with rains in Iowa and Illinois this week adding pressure. Chicago Board of Trade September […] Read more


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Hogs seen as key factor in input cost hikes

CNS Canada — Canada’s Farm Input Price Index has climbed slightly for the first quarter of this year. Canada-wide, the index rose 1.3 per cent for the first quarter of this year compared to the final quarter of 2016. When comparing this year’s first quarter to last year’s first quarter, however, input prices in the […] Read more

(Photo courtesy United Soybean Board)

U.S. grains: Soybeans set four-month top

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures hit a four-month high Tuesday on worries about stressful crop weather in the Midwest and as traders squared positions one day ahead of monthly reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Corn futures ended fractionally lower on profit-taking after a one-year high, while wheat ended higher after a […] Read more



(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. grains: Soybeans, corn firm on weather view

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rallied 1.4 per cent on Friday on hotter and drier forecasts for important growing areas of the U.S. Midwest, traders said. Concerns about the forecast also supported corn futures but the market closed off session highs as profit-taking weighed on prices after their run-up to […] Read more

(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

Prairie wheat, barley commissions’ single checkoffs set

The post-deregulation era of Prairie grain research and market development funding is cleared to begin, as the three Prairie provinces’ wheat and barley commissions have set new single checkoffs on Prairie wheat and barley, all starting Aug. 1. The Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association (MWBGA) on Wednesday announced that when the Western Canadian Deduction […] Read more