(Canada Border Services Agency video screengrab)

Canada taking first step toward lifting border restrictions

U.S. border restrictions still in place until at least June 21

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada on Wednesday took a cautious first step toward easing COVID-19 border restrictions, saying it was prepared to relax quarantine protocols for fully vaccinated citizens returning home starting in early July. Canada’s air and land borders have allowed for only essential travel since March of last year, and Canadians coming home […] Read more

CBOT July 2021 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (dark green line) and ICE July 2021 canola (yellow line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Midwest forecast supports gains in soy, corn

CBOT wheat up, MGEX wheat down

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures rose on Tuesday after a government report showed that the condition of crops was worse than expected as a heat wave hit the U.S. Midwest. “Yesterday’s Crop Progress report provided plenty of fodder for the bulls,” Matt Zeller, director of market information at StoneX, said in […] Read more


Video screengrab featuring an office at the JBS beef plant at Brooks, Alta. (JBS video via YouTube)

JBS Canada plant up and running after cyberattack

Brooks beef plant has 'resumed production'

Meat packer JBS’s major beef slaughter plant in Alberta went back to work Tuesday following a cyberattack reported to have downed several of the company’s operations in North America and Australia. JBS USA, the unit overseeing the Brazilian firm’s Canadian operations, and JBS-owned chicken unit Pilgrim’s Pride both reported “significant progress in resolving the cyberattack […] Read more

File photo of a container vessel being unloaded at a U.K. port. (Sterling750/iStock/Getty Images)

Trans-Pacific trade partners agree for U.K. to start joining process

Tokyo | Reuters — Member nations of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Wednesday officially agreed to allow the United Kingdom to start the process of joining the pact, Japan’s economy minister said. Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters he welcomed the start of Britain’s joining process after hosting an […] Read more


(JBSFoodCanada.ca)

Ransomware attack on JBS halts Canadian, U.S. slaughter

Cyberattack likely from Russia, White House says

Chicago/Aboard Air Force One | Reuters — Brazil’s JBS SA told the U.S. government that a ransomware attack on the company that has disrupted meat production in North America and Australia originated from a criminal organization likely based in Russia, the White House said on Tuesday. JBS is the world’s largest meatpacker and the cyberattack […] Read more

Barley. (Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Canada’s barley exports show no signs of slowing

MarketsFarm — Tight Canadian barley supplies, due in part to surging export demand, have kept feed grain bids well supported in the Prairies over the past few months. The cupboards, however, are not quite bare, with weekly Canadian barley exports hitting their second-highest level of the crop-year-to-date. Canada exported 175,500 tonnes of barley during the […] Read more

Flush farmers have a reputation for reinvesting in their operations, which has a positive impact on the economy. (Luca Piccini Basile/iStock/Getty Images)

StatsCan shows 2020 farm income up significantly

Farm cash receipts were up more than expenses

Canadian farm income, no matter how it’s measured, was up a lot in 2020, data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada show. Canadian net farm income of $18.1 billion is up $4.8 billion from 2019 — a 36.5 per cent increase. Another measure — realized net farm income (RNFI) — saw farmers take in $9.9 billion, […] Read more


A Western blot analysis, used to detect specific proteins in tissue samples, is used to confirm BSE in cattle. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

OIE ruling turns page on BSE in Canada

Canada's BSE status upgraded to 'negligible risk'

The international body overseeing countries’ animal disease control measures has assigned Canada the lowest level of risk for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) — a move which stands to help clear away lingering trade barriers against Canadian beef. The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on Thursday announced it has delivered “negligible risk” status for BSE […] Read more

Canada/U.S. border signage in downtown Detroit. (RiverNorthPhotography/Getty Images)

U.S. requests CUSMA dispute panel on Canadian dairy quotas

TRQs improperly allocated, USTR alleges

Washington | Reuters — The Biden administration on Tuesday escalated a simmering trade dispute with Canada over dairy import quotas, requesting that the first dispute settlement panel under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement be formed to review the matter. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said its complaint alleges that Canada was improperly allocating CUSMA tariff-rate import quotas […] Read more