(Ablokhin/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Traders watching weather

MarketsFarm — Corn contracts have tested contract lows on the Chicago Board of Trade, and markets are in need of a bounce. “If contract lows get taken out, you’re talking almost another 10 cents to the downside,” said Steve Georgy, president of Allendale Inc. at McHenry, Illinois. “It’s going to be very important for us […] Read more

Emmanuel Adou, an Ivorian farmer, looks a drone spraying his oil palm plantation in Tiassale northern Abidjan, Ivory Coast May 21, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/

Researchers work together to find high-tech solutions to deal with hotter climate

Scientists are looking at everything from improved genetics to robots to help farmers maintain productivity as the world heats up

London | Thomson Reuters Foundation – In decades to come, African farmers may pool their money to buy small robot vehicles to weed their fields or drones that can hover to squirt a few drops of pesticide only where needed. Smartphones already allow farmers in remote areas to snap photos of sick plants, upload them […] Read more

Photo: File

Crop reports stoke hay shortage concerns

MarketsFarm – Rainfall varied across the Prairie provinces during week ended August 2, as concerns of a hay shortage continue. Approximately 39 per cent of the hay crop in Saskatchewan is now baled or stored. While hay quality is 55 per cent good-to-excellent, yields have been well below normal across the province. According to the […] Read more

Canola is flowering in most areas of Manitoba.  Photo: Greg Berg

Manitoba crops progressing quickly in hot and humid weather

MarketsFarm – Dry areas of Manitoba received much needed rain during the week ended July 22, with the majority of the province’s agricultural land now reporting optimal soil moisture conditions, according to the latest weekly report from Manitoba Agriculture. Warm and humid conditions helped with crop development in most areas of the province during the […] Read more


Photo: Thinkstock

Indonesia plans cloud seeding effort to avoid crop failure

Jakarta | Reuters – Indonesia is preparing to carry out cloud seeding in an effort to trigger rainfall to prevent harvest failure and forest fire, the disaster mitigation agency’s spokesman said on Monday. The agency’s data shows that on July 22 about 20,269 hectares of agricultural land were at risk of harvest failure because of […] Read more

Minimizing pesticide drift and crop insect monitoring

Ontario Field Crop Report for the week of July 18

Pesticide drift Pesticide drift is a complicated subject and it carries significant financial and emotional baggage. This season has been challenging for many agricultural sectors and practices, and spray applicators have been challenged with difficult timing and limited opportunities for herbicide applications. When sprayer operators are rushed or frustrated they have to make hard decisions, […] Read more



CBOT November 2019 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soy ease on warmer weather

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean, corn and wheat futures all settled down on Monday after early strength, as outlooks for improved U.S. weather boosted crop production prospects, analysts said. The August soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade settled down 14-3/4 cents at $8.89-3/4 a bushel and new-crop November settled down 14-1/2 cents […] Read more

The corn that was planted in Ontario is almost all behind where it usually would be at this time of the year.

Planted acreage reports raise questions with larger corn area

Both the Statistics Canada and USDA reports showed larger-than-expected corn acreage

Statistics Canada’s June estimate of Ontario corn acres puts the expected acreage at 2.2 million acres, up 2.2 per cent from last year. That’s raised some eyebrows, as farmers across the province struggled to get corn planted due to cool and wet weather. They’ve now switched to soybeans due to the fact that the window […] Read more