CME August 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and August 2021 live cattle (dark red line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hogs retreat from one-week high

CME August live cattle up, feeders lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures ended lower on Wednesday in a retreat from early gains in which the most-active contract topped a one-week high. Traders watched a rally in grain prices that makes it more expensive to feed livestock. Corn and soy futures soared at the Chicago Board of Trade […] Read more


CBOT December 2021 corn (candlesticks) with MGEX, CBOT and K.C. December 2021 wheats (dark green, yellow and orange lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy surge as U.S. farmers plant fewer acres than expected

Traders had expected more U.S. corn, soy acres

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade grain and soybean futures surged on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture surprised traders with lower-than-expected plantings estimates and inventory data. Corn climbed by their daily exchange-imposed limit after USDA pegged plantings of the crop at 92.692 million acres, below analysts’ expectations for 93.787 million. The […] Read more

Chickpeas. (Grigorenko/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Pulse weekly outlook: StatsCan acres see little change

MarketsFarm — Canadian pea and lentil acres only saw slight adjustments in the latest acreage estimates Tuesday from Statistics Canada, with little market news to draw in extra area since the previous report in April. “When you see all the hard commodities, their prices are fantastic. That’s the main reason why growers switch,” said Marcos […] Read more

CBOT November 2021 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20- and 100-day moving averages (green and black lines) and ICE November 2021 canola (yellow line, left column). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy mixed ahead of plantings, stocks reports

Canadian farmers expand canola acres

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures were mixed on Tuesday as traders adjusted positions ahead of key U.S. reports on crop plantings and inventories. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday is expected to increase its estimate for corn plantings by about three per cent from March, according to […] Read more


Canola south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 3, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Canada’s canola acres up from earlier forecast

Wheat acres up; barley, oats, corn revised lower

MarketsFarm –– Canadian farmers seeded more canola in 2021 than originally intended, with a number of other crops also seeing adjustments higher as dry weather through the planting season allowed for a fast seeding pace. In its June estimates of principal field crop areas, released Tuesday, Statistics Canada pegged total canola planted area at 22.5 […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola, wheat acres in opposite trends before StatsCan report

'Every commodity was offering options that were profitable'

MarketsFarm — Just days prior to Statistics Canada issuing its latest survey-based crop acreage report on Tuesday next week, analysts are estimating a rise in canola acres at the expense of wheat. “Coming through the winter and towards spring seeding, we were looking at canola prices that were at their highest levels of all time,” […] Read more




(Photo courtesy Canary Seed Development Commission of Saskatchewan)

Canary seed gains official ‘grain’ status

New regulations to take effect Aug. 1

MarketsFarm — No longer just for the birds, canary seed will soon gain official status under the Canada Grain Act, the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) announced Wednesday. Following stakeholder consultations and calls from producers the CGC is implementing regulatory changes for the crop effective Aug. 1. The move to official status was good news to […] Read more