An Ontario livestock nutrition firm’s venture into online retail for producers is expanding into the Prairie provinces with four pickup and ordering points in the region. Cambridge, Ont.-based GVF Group announced Thursday its Farmers Farmacy business, previously available only to producers in Ontario, the Maritime provinces and Quebec, now also serves Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. […] Read more

Canada’s agriculture sector has yielded four new scholars to join the international Nuffield community and receive funding for research in their fields of interest. Nuffield Canada, the Canadian arm of the international Nuffield organization since 1986, has named Ellen Crane, Josh Oulton, Gavin Robertson and Shelley Spruitt as its Nuffield scholars for 2018. The new […] Read more

Reuters — Hundreds of livestock ranchers in the drought-stricken U.S. northern Plains are embracing what organizers say is the first lottery designed to provide some much-needed relief to their operations. The prize? Tons and tons of hay. Ranchers in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana have been suffering through the region’s worst drought in 30 […] Read more

Washington | Reuters — U.S., Canadian and Mexican negotiators on Friday began digging into some of the thorniest issues in modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, including rules of origin for goods produced in the region, services trade and a controversial dispute settlement system. A copy of the NAFTA negotiating agenda obtained by Reuters […] Read more

Reuters — China’s state-owned Cofco International Ltd. (CIL) and U.S. farm co-operative Growmark on Friday announced a new grain supply partnership which they say will enhance links between U.S. grain production areas and global markets, including China. The partnership is the latest expansion move by CIL after it invested US$3 billion to buy Noble Group’s […] Read more

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn, soybean and wheat futures firmed on Friday, but outlooks for good weather for crop development limited attempts at a rally, traders said. All three commodities posted weekly losses. “Ongoing pressure from large supplies and lack of a weather threat kept markets on the defensive this week,” Farm Futures analyst […] Read more

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures pared losses on Friday after falling to their lowest level in nine months, led by this week’s steep cash price drop and seasonally downward-trending wholesale beef values, said traders. Bargain buying and traders covering their short positions lifted contracts from session lows, and futures remained […] Read more

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures sank to a nine-month low on Thursday, weighed down by seasonally tepid wholesale beef demand and sharply lower prices for slaughter-ready, or cash, cattle, traders said. Thursday’s market losses triggered pre-established sell orders. And fund liquidation developed after August and October futures fell below their […] Read more

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell about one per cent to life-of-contract lows on Thursday, weighed down by investment fund short selling and abundant global supplies, traders said. Corn futures also eased but held just above Wednesday’s multimonth lows while soybean futures gained on strong Chinese demand and as rains […] Read more