Markets
Millions of lonely and isolated people have been seeking companionship during the COVID-19 pandemic spurring a huge increase in pet ownership and pet food demand, says a grain industry executive. An estimated 10 million new pets have been added to North American households during the pandemic, said Jeff Vipond, vice-president and general manager of pulses, […] Read more
Markets
Pet boom increases pulse demand
Pet food manufacturers in the United States are buying more pulses from Canada as more people buy pets during COVID
Vaccine resistance may threaten truck traffic
Canada and the U.S. will soon require truckers to be vaccinated if crossing the border, potentially disrupting movement of goods if too many won’t get the jab
Canada-United States agricultural trade could become backed up once vaccine mandates hit truckers in January. People in the grain logistics system say they fear many Canadian and American truckers might be unvaccinated and therefore banned from crossing the border after mid-January. “It is going to have an impact, no doubt,” said Diane Gray, president and […] Read more
Biodiesel use to decline in EU
There is a good news/bad news scenario emerging for canola oil in the European Union’s biodiesel sector, according to a Rabobank report. The bad news is that diesel demand is expected to fall with the increased adoption of electric and hydrogen vehicles. The electric share of new car registrations in the EU is expected to […] Read more
Turkey significantly expands lentil production
One of the top buyers of Canadian lentils is greatly expanding its own plantings but yields could be way down due to a prolonged drought. Turkey may increase its lentil acres by up to 30 percent, according to Armada Foods, a major Turkish importer-exporter and processor of pulses. The huge expansion of acres will come […] Read more
Wheat shows signs of price liftoff
The current rally is supported by strong demand and low supplies and could be sustained by existing production problems
MarketsFarm analyst Bruce Burnett put up a slide showing how nearby spring wheat futures prices spiked above $20 per bushel in 2008. “The question I get the most from farmers is, are we going to see that again?” he said during his Farm Forum Event 2021 virtual presentation. His answer is that he doubts it. […] Read more
Drought takes big bite out of canola exports
Canadian shipments to the European Union, United Arab Emirates, China and Japan have taken the most significant hits
Analysts thought Canadian canola exports would be the biggest casualty of this year’s short crop and so far that appears to be the case. Exports were down almost 50 percent through the first three months of the 2021-22 campaign compared to a nine percent reduction in domestic crush, according to the United States Department of […] Read more
USDA sees little renewable diesel benefit for soybean oil
The department expects little change in oil demand from renewable fuel sector after next year, which puzzles analysts
Analysts generally concur that the burgeoning renewable diesel industry will result in exploding demand for soybean oil through 2030. But there is one notable exception. The United States Department of Agriculture is forecasting static soybean oil demand from the renewable fuel sector after 2022, at about 12 billion pounds per year. “I find that a […] Read more
Food inflation expected to increase societal stress levels
There’s a big “I” word in your future: inflation. After decades in abeyance, the word inflation, as used to describe a problem, is everywhere. It got much national attention when Canada’s Food Price Report was released Dec. 9. It usually draws interest, but it’s predicted that the big jump in 2021 domestic food prices will […] Read more
Grain markets watch La Nina and Russian sabre rattling
This year’s La Nina is producing the kind of impacts we’d expect with dry weather in parts of South America and the southern United States and increased rain in Australia. That is the classic scenario of a La Nina, which is a cooling of water in the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean. Southern Brazil, […] Read more
India repeals ag reforms; plots new course
The legislation was seen as an attempt to liberalize domestic trade but ran into fierce opposition from the country’s farmers
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repealed three controversial agriculture reform laws passed by the Parliament of India in the fall of 2020. Hundreds of farmers died in protests sparked by the reforms and there was a huge loss in agricultural productivity. “All said and done, it is sad,” G. Chandrashekhar, senior editor of the […] Read more
