CBOT November 2020 soybeans with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans up with exports, corn up slightly on dry weather

Big expected Russian, Canadian crops weaken wheat

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures rose on Monday as a spate of new-crop soybean export sales eased concerns about forecasts of huge harvests across the U.S. Midwest. Corn futures were buoyed by dryness in top corn-producing states, as weekend rainfall missed drought-stricken parts of western Iowa. Meanwhile, wheat futures slipped on estimates for […] Read more

Wheat is piled after harvest in Australia.

Australia’s wheat crop troubled

Drought continues, and it’s losing market share in Indonesia and Malaysia

MarketsFarm – Australia’s wheat crop is not looking good for 2019-20 and it’s more than the ongoing drought that’s to blame. As production in Australia has declined, it has also lost global market share, said a report from a United States Department of Agriculture attaché. Why it matters: As Australian wheat production plummets, do does […] Read more

More tax deferral zones announced for ranchers

More tax deferral zones announced for ranchers

Final list released for 2019 tax year

More ranchers who were up against a dry 2019 may now be eligible to defer some income from their livestock sales for the income tax year. The federal government on Tuesday released the “final list” of designated regions where income tax deferral on sales of breeding livestock has been authorized for 2019. In a prescribed […] Read more

Victoria Falls, on the Zambezi River on Zimbabwe’s northwestern border with Zambia. (CIA.gov)

Zimbabwe says grain stocks running out after drought

Harare | Reuters — Zimbabwe has only 100,000 tonnes of grain in its strategic reserves, enough to last just over a month, as the southern African nation suffers the effects of a severe drought, according to the agriculture minister. More than half the country’s population faces food shortages after maize harvests halved last year. The […] Read more


File photo of cattle seeking shade in Namibia. (Brytta/iStock/Getty Images)

Namibia looks to import cattle as drought decimates herds

Windhoek | Reuters — Namibian state-owned meat processing and marketing firm Meatco is in talks with neighbour Botswana to import cattle, as severe drought decimates local herds and threatens beef export deals with China and European countries. The southern African desert nation moved closer to famine last month after dam levels fell below 20 per […] Read more

Watermelons head to market in California.

Managing water for farming on a large scale

California’s most recent drought has pushed farmers to become more water-use efficient

The drought may be over but water continues to be a top-of-mind issue in California — particularly for its US$50 billion a year agriculture sector. Most of the state’s rainfall happens in the north and most consumption in the agricultural and urbanized south, which has created a complex water distribution network anchored by two main […] Read more

Australia is suffering from a third year of drought, resulting in a deep reduction in agriculture output.  Photo: Thinkstock

Australia drought cuts IGC global wheat crop outlook

London | Reuters – The International Grains Council (IGC) on Thursday trimmed its forecast for global wheat production in the 2019/20 season as the outlook for Australia’s crop dimmed. In its monthly update, the inter-governmental body cut its global wheat production projection by 2 million tonnes to 762 million tonnes. The wheat crop in Australia […] Read more


Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil on Aug. 14, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

South America fires could disrupt its farm belt’s rainfall

Santa Cruz | Reuters — Forest fires that swept across Bolivia and Brazil this year could disrupt rainfall distribution across South America’s grains-and-beef producing regions in unpredictable ways for years to come, a scientist and meteorologist said. Recent rains in both countries have helped put out the wildfires, which were likely started by farmers and […] Read more

(Rahr.com)

Ample world malt barley supply to limit export prices

MarketsFarm — Canadian malt barley growers may be dealing with adverse harvest conditions that could lead to quality downgrades in some areas — while world supplies of the key beer ingredient remain more than sufficient to meet global demand. “There’s no real indication at this time that we’ll see a significant up move (in price),” […] Read more