CME live cattle futures climb to 1-month top

CHICAGO, June 2 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts hit a one-month high on Friday, driven by fund buying and short-covering, said traders. Futures’ discounts to this week’s better-than-anticipated cash prices generated more buying. June  closed 3.400 cents per pound higher at 1s 30.825 cents, and August  1.350 cents higher at 126.050 cents. […] Read more


Unusually plentiful May rain in the prime canola growing regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan has set back the development of Western Canada’s top crop.  |  File photo

Wet fields muddy seeding outlook

Rain proves to be a major setback for many farmers in central and northern parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan

Denis Guindon started seeding on May 11, which is the exact same date he was done last year. Two days after he hopped on the tractor his already soggy farm near Falher, Alta., received 50 millimetres of rain. It shut him down for a week. He got going again on May 21 for a couple […] Read more


Sunflower acres expected to drop

Sunflower acres expected to drop

It’s become a familiar story in Manitoba. If growers have a choice between soybeans and another crop, beans usually win out. Such is the case this spring with sunflowers. Soybeans will set another acreage record and sunflowers will possibly hit the second lowest level ever in the province. Statistics Canada has predicted 50,000 acres of […] Read more

Strong cash prices boosts CME live cattle by 3-cent limit

CHICAGO, June 1 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle settled up their 3.000 cent per pound daily price limit on Thursday, fueled by short-covering following stronger-than-expected cash prices, said traders. Fund buying and futures’ discounts to this week’s cash returns enhanced market gains, they said. June  and August  closed limit up at 127.425 and […] Read more


An issue with herbicide residue is less problematic than expected.  |  File photo

European flax sales still not picking up

Russia is a strong contender in the flax market and Canadian industry officials are seeing their exports fall

Canada has not recaptured the European flax market this year as some had predicted. In fact, sales to the EU are down 19 percent so far compared to the previous year, according to Canadian Grain Commission statistics. The belief was that exports to the EU would rise after the European Commission tightened its tolerance level […] Read more

Feedlot placements jump to 14-year high

CHICAGO, May 26 (Reuters) – Feedlots placed 11 percent more cattle on feed in April than a year earlier, the most for the month in 14 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported May 26, beating average forecasts. Feedlots were making money from selling slaughter weight cattle at strong prices and that allowed them to […] Read more

Options offer way to profit from dull market

Farmers probably haven’t been driving their tractors into the ditch with excitement while listening to markets news. It’s been a bit dull, to be honest. Some analysts think this mood might linger into summer unless something big happens. “People want more of a story, but the story is more of the same,” said Neil Townsend, […] Read more


Big soybean potential holds back hope for canola rally

Farmers in the northern part of the Prairies, struggling against wet, cold soils to seed their canola crops, might wonder why the oilseed’s futures appear to be not reacting to the late planting. Conditions are such that the expected 22.4 million seeded canola acres might be scaled back. Also, delays and cool weather now could […] Read more

Canfax report

Fed cattle lower The Canfax weekly weighted average for fed steers was $170.57 per hundredweight, down $3.87 while heifers were down $3.42 to $169.81. Prices fell as the Chicago cattle futures market, the U.S. cash market and U.S. beef prices also all fell. American packers were buying for a short week because of the U.S. […] Read more