CNS Canada –– The Chicago Board of Trade soybean market is increasingly being weighed down as rain-stricken farmers switch out acres intended for corn into oilseeds. The July contract plunged 32.25 cents per bushel during the week ended Wednesday (all figures US$). “You can see the corn has already gained on beans a dime this […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Soybeans in danger of dropping below US$9
U.S. grains: Corn ends higher on lower-than-expected crop ratings
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. corn futures rose about 1.4 per cent on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s initial condition ratings for the crop fell below trade expectations. Nearby soybeans also closed firm while wheat turned lower toward the close, after spending most of the session higher. Chicago Board of Trade July corn […] Read more
Farmers wait for fertilizer prices to fall amid oversupply
CNS Canada — As more fertilizer plants are built around the world and U.S. corn acreage shrinks, the typical thinking holds that prices for urea and nitrogen should fall, but that hasn’t been the case so far for Canadian farmers. “They’re more on the steady side,” said Todd Lewis, president of the Agricultural Producers Association […] Read more
Nova Scotia ag minister, critic keep seats in election
Nova Scotia’s incumbent agriculture minister and lead ag critic have both hung onto their seats in an election which saw the governing Liberals return to power with a slightly slimmer majority. Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election show Premier Stephen McNeil’s Liberals elected in 27 ridings — down from 34 at the government’s dissolution — followed […] Read more
Trust in agriculture increases with farm visits: survey
Residents of the Greater Toronto Area who have worked in agriculture or have recently visited a working farm are more likely to be optimistic about job prospects in the agriculture sector. That’s according to a recent survey of 676 residents of the GTA by Grassroots Public Affairs and Delphi Polling and Consulting. The survey highlighted […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans near 14-month low as weather worries recede
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell to their lowest level in nearly 14 months on Tuesday on better-than-expected weather conditions over a long holiday weekend and worries about export demand for new-crop supplies, analysts said. Corn and wheat futures declined about two per cent on improving U.S. weather outlooks. Chicago Board of Trade […] Read more
Early U.S. winter wheat harvest supports low-protein fears
Chicago | Reuters — The earliest reports from the start of the U.S. hard red winter wheat harvest underscored industry fears of a second straight year of low protein, a factor that shifts the market’s focus to prospects for the North American spring wheat crop, a higher-protein variety. “It’s probably a foregone conclusion at this […] Read more
Greig: Farmer trust key to big data’s future
The marketplace for precision agriculture technology is sorting itself out, but it still has a way to go before it will be mature and have predictable uses for farmers, says a U.S. agriculture economist. Dr. Keith Coble, chair of the Mississippi State University’s department of agricultural economics, says we’re in the “overexuberance” phase of technology […] Read more
Deal reached to avert CN strike, union head says
Montreal/Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian National Railway and a union representing 3,000 conductors on Monday reached an agreement in principle ahead of a looming strike deadline at Canada’s largest railroad, said a top union official. The union had set a strike deadline of Tuesday at 4 a.m. ET after the railroad announced new work rules […] Read more
CN’s conductors serve strike notice
The unit of the Teamsters representing Canadian National Railway’s (CN) conductors and yard operations staff has served notice that its members may be walking the line come Tuesday morning. Montreal-based CN said Saturday it had received 72-hour strike notice from the conductors’ unit of the Teamsters Canadian Rail Conference (TCRC), putting the unit in strike […] Read more
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