File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

U.N. aid chief in Moscow to discuss Ukraine grain exports

Russia says will guarantee grain vessels' safety

Reuters — U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths is in Moscow on Thursday and Friday to discuss clearing the way for exports of grain and other food from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, a U.N. spokesperson said. Griffiths will meet Russian officials days after another senior U.N. official, Rebecca Grynspan, had “constructive” talks in Moscow with Russian […] Read more

File photo of barley being loaded for export at the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, Ukraine on July 9, 2013. (Photo: Reuters/Vincent Mundy)

U.N. had ‘constructive’ talks in Moscow on Russian grain, fertilizer exports

U.S. could offer 'comfort letters' to shippers, insurers

United Nations | Reuters — A senior U.N. official had “constructive discussions” in Moscow with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports to global markets, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday. The U.N. official, Rebecca Grynspan, is now in Washington for talks on the same issue “with […] Read more

Yara’s fertilizer terminal at Stockton, California. (Sebastian Braum photo, Yara.com)

Fertilizer maker Yara says world faces extreme food supply shock

Sanctions cut global fertilizer supply 15 per cent, company says

Davos, Switzerland | Reuters — Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara says donors urgently need to close the U.N.’s $10 billion food programme funding gap to avoid a catastrophe as sanctions on Russian fertilizers and Ukraine’s grain export problems have created an extreme global shock. “The world has realized that food can be a weapon and it […] Read more

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken listens to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during a “Global Food Security Call to Action” meeting of foreign ministers at U.N. headquarters in New York on May 18, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)

U.N. chief in talks on restoring Ukraine grain exports

Contact made amid global food crisis

United Nations | Reuters — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he is in “intense contact” with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States and the European Union in an effort to restore Ukrainian grain export as a global food crisis worsens. “I am hopeful, but there is still a way to go,” said […] Read more

Corn seedlings in southern Ontario in 2021. (Farmtario photo by John Greig)

Spring planting well underway in Ontario

MarketsFarm — Farmers are well into seeding their crops for 2022, according to Wednesday’s crop report from Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). The report noted planting of corn, soybeans and spring cereals started late last week — the exception being where there are heavier soils. OMAFRA projected planting could be 80 […] Read more


Fertilizer tariff burdens Ontario growers

Fertilizer tariff burdens Ontario growers

Additional 35 per cent cost applies to all Russian fertilizer not in country as of March 2

Canadian farmers are wondering why some inputs already bought and paid for are arriving with yet another invoice after a 35 per cent tariff was imposed on all Russian fertilizer imports. The reason is simple, though the situation is messy. If fertilizer ordered before March 2 was already on Canadian soil, the tariff is irrelevant […] Read more

Yuri and Oleksiy, farmers wearing body armours and helmets, prepare for field work in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region amid Russia’s invasion, on April 26, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

Worsening global food security needs Ukraine, Russia production, UN chief says

Abuja | Reuters — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday the problem of global food security could not be solved without restoring Ukrainian agricultural production and Russian food and fertilizer output to the world market. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February has added to volatility in financial markets, sending commodity prices higher and affecting logistics, […] Read more

CF Industries’ UAN plant at Donaldsonville in Louisiana. The company also makes UAN at plants in Ontario, Iowa and Oklahoma. (Thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com)

CF Industries profit soars as sanctions raise fertilizer prices

Chicago | Reuters — CF Industries on Wednesday reported quarterly earnings climbed 485 per cent as the fertilizer maker ramped up U.S. shipments after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine catapulted prices for crop nutrients. Top fertilizer producers including CF, Nutrien and Mosaic Co. have benefited as sanctions on exporters Russia and ally Belarus limited global supplies […] Read more



(Nutrien video screengrab via YouTube)

Nutrien bolsters profit forecast on surging fertilizer prices

Fertilizer sector set for biggest profits in years

Reuters — Nutrien Ltd. on Monday raised its full-year earnings forecast well above estimates after posting a more than 10-fold jump in first-quarter profit, as the world’s largest fertilizer company benefits strongly from soaring prices of crop nutrients. Prices of essential crop nutrients such as potash and phosphate skyrocketed in the quarter, touching near-record levels, […] Read more