KC wheat jumps on disappointing harvest yields in U.S. Plains

CHICAGO, June 18 (Reuters) – Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures surged on Wednesday on disappointing yield reports from the early harvest in the southern U.S. Plains, including top producer Kansas, traders said. The Kansas Wheat Commission said in its first harvest report of the season that early yields in far southern Kansas were […] Read more

Sask. increases support for Farm Progress Show

Canada’s Farm Progress Show opened yesterday with news of continued funding from the Saskatchewan government and the title sponsor, Viterra. Provincial agriculture minister Lyle Stewart announced a new five-year, $125,000 funding agreement. This new arrangement provides $5,000 per year more than the previous deal. “I think the sales numbers compared to the relatively modest help […] Read more

EU poised to dethrone U.S. as world’s top wheat exporter

LONDON/CHICAGO (Reuters) — The European Union is likely to surpass the United States to become the top world wheat exporter next season as high freight rates help EU suppliers tighten their grip on nearby markets in the Middle East and expand sales in Asia. A rise in freight costs has hurt U.S. sales to importers […] Read more


Flood conditions worsen in southern Alberta

Conditions deteriorated overnight in southern Alberta as rain continued to fall and water levels in all rivers and creeks continued to rise. Water is beginning to pool in many fields across the south, where two to four inches of rain fell yesterday and more is expected to fall between now and Thursday evening. Some areas […] Read more

U.S. government confident new vaccine will help fight pig virus

PARIS (Reuters) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Wednesday he was confident a vaccine approved this week by the U.S. administration would help fight a deadly virus which has killed millions of pigs in the United States. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday preliminary studies of a vaccine developed by Harrisvaccines […] Read more


Smithfield pork packing plant closed due to ammonia leak

(Reuters) — Smithfield Foods Inc. closed its Tar Heel, North Carolina, pork packing plant, the world’s largest, on Tuesday after a water tank collasped and caused an ammonia leak, the company said. It did not say when the plant would resume operations, noting only that Tueday’s shifts were cancelled. At least three people were injured […] Read more

Crop report

Manitoba SOUTHWEST This area has been hardest hit with excess moisture. Rain throughout the week resulted in amounts ranging from 10 to 50 millimetres. Some producers are inquiring about planting greenfeed. Some are broadcast seeding, but the practice is not widespread. Overall, seeding progress is almost three quarters complete. While some producers are almost completed, […] Read more

Much of southern Alberta on flood alert

A storm that may result in up to 200 millimetres of rain has put much of southern Alberta on flood alert. Evan Friesenhan, director of river forecasting for the province, said that could mean Oldman River flows of 4,500 cubic metres per second, which is roughly equivalent to flows seen in damaging 1995 floods. Lethbridge […] Read more


Lethbridge county urges producers to move cattle due to flood worries

Livestock producers with stock near the Oldman River to the west and within the County of Lethbridge have been urged to move their animals because of potential flooding. Lethbridge County officials declared a local state of emergency today because of forecasted high water levels in the Oldman River, which are expected to reach county borders […] Read more

Beef plant near Calgary to open later this year

EDMONTON — Harmony Beef could be processing cattle by mid-November, but the new owner says the pace of operations will be slow and steady. The plant is capable of handling 800 cattle per day, but once it opens later this year it will start at about 125 head, said Rich Vesta, the principle owner of […] Read more