(Valerie Loiseleux/iStock/Getty Images)

‘Time is ticking’ on drought response for beef cattle sector

'We need answers like yesterday'

As Canada’s beef farmers and ranchers face drought, industry leaders are trying to find ways to secure feed and help those forced to sell rebuild their herds. B.C. ranchers are dealing with high temperatures that have “parched the grass that was there,” Kevin Boone, general manager of B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, said during a Canadian Cattlemen’s […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Hot, dry weather creates ‘significant uncertainty,’ AAFC says

MarketsFarm — Supply/demand balance sheets for Canada’s major crops only saw minor adjustments in the latest update Tuesday from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, with hot and dry growing conditions leading to “significant uncertainty” on the state of the country’s 2021-22 crops. Total field crop production in the country was forecast to decrease due to a […] Read more

CBOT September 2021 wheat (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (black line) and K.C. September 2021 wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat climbs on deteriorating crop conditions

Corn rises as U.S. crop rating misses consensus

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures climbed on Tuesday to a two-month peak after official data underscored poor conditions for drought-hit U.S. spring wheat. Chicago corn gained, as a lower-than-expected weekly crop rating focused attention back to dry conditions in parts of the Midwest. Soybeans rebounded after being pressured by falling crude oil prices […] Read more

File photo of the flags of Canada and its provinces and territories at Canada Place in Vancouver. (lilly3/iStock/Getty Images)

Request line open for AgriRecovery drought plans, Bibeau says

Formal ask needed to trigger process: ag minister

Canada’s federal agriculture minister says the government is “ready to receive formal submissions” from provinces for AgriRecovery plans to help Prairie farmers and ranchers up against significant droughts this summer. Marie-Claude Bibeau, summarizing discussions from Thursday’s online meeting with provincial and territorial (FPT) agriculture ministers, said the formal requests “are needed to trigger the process,” […] Read more



MGEX September 2021 wheat (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange and green lines) and CBOT September 2021 wheat (black line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat climbs on stressful northern Plains weather

Chicago soybean futures sag

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose on Thursday, led by Minneapolis Grain Exchange (MGEX) spring wheat futures, which hit an 8-1/2-year high near US$9 a bushel as drought threatened crops in the northern Plains and Canadian Prairies. Soybean futures fell on disappointing domestic soy crush data and corn eased after a three-session climb. […] Read more

Ralph Eichler, shown here at Ag Days in Brandon in 2019, is again Manitoba’s minister of agriculture. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Allan Dawson)

Eichler back as Manitoba ag minister in shuffle

Pedersen not seeking re-election

Manitoba’s provincial agriculture files return to the desk of their former handler in a cabinet mini-shuffle Thursday. Premier Brian Pallister has named Ralph Eichler, MLA for the Interlake-area riding of Lakeside since 2003, as minister of agriculture and resource development, replacing Blaine Pedersen. Pedersen announced Thursday he will not seek re-election but will serve out […] Read more

Farmer and Grainews columnist Toban Dyck inspects wheat on July 6, 2021 near Winkler, Man., where hot and dry weather has led to thin, uneven stands. (Photo: Reuters/Rod Nickel)

Saskatchewan raises salvage threshold for parched crops

Stock watering program also boosted; APAS, Tories' ag critic had called for more drought aid

Saskatchewan’s provincial crop insurance agency is raising the yield threshold at which drought-damaged crops can be grazed, baled for greenfeed or cut for silage with no penalty on future coverage. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. said Wednesday it would double the “low yield appraisal” threshold values on cereal or pulse crop acres put to feed. SCIC […] Read more


ICE November 2021 canola (candlesticks) with 10-, 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green, purple and black lines). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: $1,000 canola not a guarantee

MarketsFarm — Any idea of canola hitting $1,000 per tonne in the near future is not the sure thing some people may have thought it was, according to Errol Anderson, an analyst with ProMarket Communications in Calgary. “New-crop futures might take a run at $1,000 per tonne, but in the same breath the November contract […] Read more

CBOT August 2021 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans up on weather worries

MGEX, CBOT September wheats also gain

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and soybean futures hit their highest in nearly two weeks on Wednesday as forecasts called for dry weather in the Midwest crop belt next week and continued dryness in the northern Plains, threatening crop prospects, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade December corn settled up 18 cents at $5.58-3/4 […] Read more