Canadian farmers cut wheat plantings, sow record lentil area

WINNIPEG/OTTAWA, June 29 (Reuters) – Canadian farmers planted less spring wheat and about the same area of canola as last year, dedicating the most land ever to lentils, Statistics Canada said in a report on Wednesday that was in line with trade expectations. Statscan pegged all-wheat plantings, which also include the durum and winter varieties, […] Read more




Cattle tumble, hogs decline on liquidation after Brexit

CHICAGO, June 24 (Reuters) – U.S. live cattle tumbled more than 2 percent on Friday, extending the week’s losses to the largest in about two months, as investors liquidated holdings following Britain’s referendum vote to exit the European Union, traders and analysts said. Feeder cattle futures also fell sharply while lean hogs notched smaller declines […] Read more

In the long run, it's hard to say what will happen, but free trade with Europe now seems much less likely than it did two days ago, says Sylvain Charlebois, the dean of management and an expert in food processing economics at Dalhousie University. | File graphic

Brexit casts cloud over Canada-EU trade deal

In the short term, the Brexit means Canada-U.K. and Canada-EU trade could be disrupted by currency volatility. In the long run, it’s hard to say what will happen, but free trade with Europe now seems much less likely than it did two days ago. Those are some of the quick conclusions of Sylvain Charlebois, the […] Read more



Agbor Ndoma, executive director of CSAD in Lagos, Nigeria, is in discussions with bin companies such as Meridian looking for storage and handling systems.  |  Robin Booker photo

Bargains to be had on urea, ammonia

Urea prices are $100 per tonne below those of recent years, reflecting low natural gas costs, weak demand and new production

Growers should seriously consider locking up their 2017 nitrogen fertilizer needs at today’s prices, says an analyst. Urea and anhydrous ammonia prices are lower than they have been in a long while, said Derek Squair, president of Agri-Trend Marketing. He has seen urea prices as low as $300 per tonne and anhydrous prices of 36 […] Read more

Weaker fall calf prices still profitable

EDMONTON — There were no smiles in the audience when Brian Perrillat delivered his predictions for this fall’s calf market. It wasn’t too long ago when many producers thought selling calves for $2 a pound would be the highlight of their careers. Last year, they soared as high as $3.30, but this fall calves could […] Read more


U.S. hog sector worries over proposed ownership ban

DES MOINES, Iowa — The American hog industry fears that the impact of well-intended rules and regulations might cost farmers dearly. Possible restrictions on production contracts and even an outright ban on packers owning pigs could hurt a hog farming business that now relies on the dependability of producer-packer inter-reliance, the U.S. National Pork Producers […] Read more

Determining true hog prices growing more difficult

DES MOINES, Iowa — Hog producers are having a difficult time finding reliable price information on U.S. hog sales. The United States Department of Agriculture offers no hints at how accurate its current published prices are, nor how producers might be able access better-grounded numbers. “Clearly a lot of producers are making decisions that are […] Read more