Canada’s trade pact with the U.S. and Mexico, which came into effect 20 years ago back in January, has long been a point of pride for free-trade advocates. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, in Mexico this week meeting with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts, told reporters the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “has proven […] Read more
U.S. won’t move on COOL before WTO does, Ritz says
CP, grain handlers plan for face time
Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and players in the Prairie grain industry are ready to sit down at the same table and discuss logistics issues, representatives from both industries said. In a media release last week, CP CEO Hunter Harrison said the railway has contacted customers and stakeholders such as the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA). […] Read more
Guenther: Trade’s eyes on U.S. winter wheat in crop report
Drought in the southwestern U.S. Plains is expected to focus traders on hard red winter wheat numbers in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s next crop production report due out Friday. “The trade currently looks for about 780 million bushels, which is above the 2013 level but well below a 10-year average of nearly 900 million bu.,” […] Read more
Guenther: How cold is too cold for soil at seeding?
Spring snow may have unleashed a litany of complaints among Saskatchewan residents — but has also brought relief to parched soils in the province’s northwest. Errin Tollefson, an agronomist with Cavalier Agrow at Medstead, Sask., about 170 km west of Prince Albert, said last fall was the driest she’s seen in her 10 years of […] Read more
Guenther: Amid tension in Ukraine, positive change sought for farmers
As seeding progresses in Ukraine, farmers are eyeing input prices, markets and weather, just as their counterparts do in other parts of the world. But Ukraine’s farmers have the added worry of whether conflict in the eastern part of the country will boil over. Last week Russian and Ukrainian officials signed an accord agreeing to […] Read more
New interswitching rules more punishment than policy: CN CEO
Given recent federal moves to regulate Canada’s major railways into moving more grain, Claude Mongeau came to Winnipeg Wednesday feeling “a little bit like a general who lost the battle.” Speaking to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, the CEO of Canadian National Railway (CN) said he was in town to make the case that “regulation […] Read more
Guenther: Farmers’ cash flow concerns feeding wide basis
Saskatoon | Grainews — Prairie farmers have been feeling the pain of a basis wide as the Saskatchewan sky, and the situation isn’t likely to improve any time soon. “We need to get rail movement to tighten supplies and improve these basis levels,” Cliff Jamieson, grains analyst with DTN, told delegates at the Grain Handling […] Read more
Guenther: West Coast’s grain capacity a question mark
Saskatoon | Grainews –– Western Canada’s rail network isn’t the only piece of the grain logistics puzzle that needs attention, farmers heard here at Wednesday’s Grain Handling and Transportation Summit. “If we did solve the rail problem, we have another large problem, and that’s West Coast terminal capacity,” said Richard Gray, a University of Saskatchewan […] Read more
Guenther: Gears grinding on grain freight co-ordination
Saskatoon | Grainews — The Prairie grain industry and railways are likely to behave like the House of Commons as they try to fix logistics problems plaguing the industry, Perry Pellerin told delegates here at the Grain Handling and Transportation Summit. “There’s going to be a lot of finger-pointing. A lot of badgering. Maybe even […] Read more
Guenther: Tensions risk holding back Ukraine’s ag potential
When Mike Lee moved to Ukraine six years ago, he didn’t think he’d end up with a front-row seat to a conflict that could tip into outright war. Lee is an agronomist and agribusiness consultant hailing from the United Kingdom. He’s farmed, taught agriculture at Writtle College in the U.K., and consulted in other countries, […] Read more
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