Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Sunflower growers in Canada took off a bumper crop in 2020, almost hitting the 100,000-tonne mark for the first time since 2010. The forecast for this year’s crop isn’t as sunny. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s latest outlook, released earlier this month, predicts the national sunflower seed crop in 2021 at 75,000 tonnes off […] Read more
Daily news
Sunflower seed market falls back to Earth
Canada’s year-end cattle herd continues shrinking
Slaughter beat pre-pandemic pace in second half, StatsCan says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Year-over-year contraction continued for Canada’s cattle herd at the start of 2021, while newborn piglet counts kept Canada’s hog herd on the rise during the same period, according to Statistics Canada. StatsCan on Monday reported 11.2 million cattle on Canadian farms at Jan, 1, 2021 — down one per cent from the year-earlier date and […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit five-week low
Technical selling, weaker beef prices bring pressure
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Technical selling on Monday drove Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures to their lowest prices in more than five weeks, while lean hog futures recovered from a sell-off. The cattle market’s losses brought the most-active April contract down six per cent from a life-of-contract high reached on Feb. 16. Strong domestic […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat futures ease in setback from surges
Sovecon raises Russian wheat export forecast
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain and soybean futures eased on Monday in a setback from rallies driven by concerns about tight crop supplies. The markets will likely not decline too sharply, traders said, because of strong demand from China and the need for large global harvests. In corn, speculative bullishness in corn remains near […] Read more
Beef cattle sector weighs in for federal food processing study
Cattlemen's Association makes recommendations to Commons' ag committee
Reading Time: 2 minutes The House of Commons’ standing committee on agriculture will soon be wrapping up its study into Canada’s processing capacity. Since November, MPs have heard from more than 50 witnesses on the matter — including representatives from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, whose president Bob Lowe and executive vice-president Dennis Laycraft testified at a committee meeting Tuesday. […] Read more
Grain drying relief moving forward, one way or other
Governing Liberals telegraph plans to introduce their own measure
Reading Time: 3 minutes Despite voting against a bill to exempt certain farm fuels from the carbon tax, the governing federal Liberals say tax relief for grain drying is coming. Conservative MP Philip Lawrence’s private member’s bill C-206, An Act to amend the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act (qualifying farming fuel), passed second reading in the House of Commons […] Read more
Major flour miller to buy U.S. chickpea processor
Ardent Mills to take up Hinrichs Trading Co.
Reading Time: 2 minutes Major North American flour miller Ardent Mills is expanding its reach into pulse-based ingredients with a deal to buy U.S. chickpea processor Hinrichs Trading Co. The two companies said they “expect the deal will help customers bring innovative products to market to meet growing consumer demand for plant-based and specialty ingredients.” Terms of the deal […] Read more
Wet or dry spring ahead? Depends on where in Canada
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — There will be increased in risk of flooding this spring in British Columbia, western Alberta and parts of Eastern Canada, according to a report Friday from AccuWeather. Meanwhile, dry conditions are expected to continue across the Prairies. AccuWeather’s report forecasts below-normal temperatures for B.C. and western Alberta going into spring. That could delay […] Read more
Spanish report calls for cull of over 850 cattle on pariah ship
Cattle were bound for Turkey but turned away over bluetongue fears
Reading Time: 2 minutes Cartagena | Reuters — More than 850 cows that spent months aboard a ship wandering across the Mediterranean are not fit for transport anymore and should be killed, according to a confidential report by Spanish government veterinarians seen by Reuters. The cows were kept in what an animal rights activist called “hellish” conditions on the […] Read more
Risk of human spread of H5N8 bird flu deemed low
Seven people infected but asymptomatic, WHO says
Reading Time: < 1 minute Geneva | Reuters — The risk of human-to-human spread of the H5N8 strain of bird flu appears low after it was identified for the first time worldwide in farm workers in Russia, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. A separate influenza strain, H1N1, that emerged from pigs and spread rapidly worldwide among humans […] Read more
GFM Podcasts
Special Podcast
Farmtario is committed to providing information that matters to farmers in Ontario. Backed by leading and experienced farm journalists and content creators, Farmtario is a new source of insights for farming in Ontario including news, crop and livestock production, markets and ag tech. Receive your free eNewsletter today!