File photo of a vineyard in South Australia. (Alicat/iStock/Getty Images)

Australian wine industry faces hangover from China’s tariffs

Over two billion litres of wine in storage

Sydney | Reuters — Australia’s wine industry faces severe oversupply problems that will need years to resolve, experts say, pointing to Chinese tariffs, high production and export bottlenecks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vineyards nationwide have enough wine in domestic storage to fill 859 Olympic swimming pools, Rabobank said this week in its third-quarter wine report.

The McDougall Creek wildfire burns outside West Kelowna, B.C. on Aug. 18, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Helgren)

B.C. wildfires intensify, evacuation orders double

Rain helping slow fires near Yellowknife

Kelowna | Reuters — Forest fires in British Columbia intensified on Saturday, with the number of people under evacuation orders doubling from a day earlier, as authorities warned of difficult days ahead. The province declared a state of emergency on Friday to access temporary authoritative powers to tackle fire-related risks, as out-of-control fires ripped through


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Spring wheat bids drop with U.S. futures

Crop concerns supportive for durum

MarketsFarm — Spring wheat bids in Western Canada fell in sympathy with U.S. futures during the week ended Thursday, although durum climbed higher on the back of production concerns in key durum-growing areas of southern Saskatchewan. Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS, 13.5 per cent protein) wheat prices were down by $7.60-$9.70 per tonne across

CME October 2023 live cattle with 10-, 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle recover from six-week low

U.S. cattle-on-feed data seen as supportive

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ended higher on Friday after dropping to a six-week low, as traders adjusted positions before a government report showed lower-than-expected placements in U.S. feedlots last month. The data, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued after trading ended, should further support cattle futures next


CBOT December 2023 soft red winter wheat with 20-day moving average, MGEX December 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. December 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat futures rally on war concerns

Soy jumps on U.S. heat wave; corn up off 2020 low

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures jumped nearly four per cent on Friday as a drone attack on Moscow revived concerns over the risk of war disruptions to Black Sea grain exports, analysts said. Soybean futures advanced for a third session to reach a July high as a hot, dry U.S.

File photo of Province House, home of the Prince Edward Island legislative assembly, in Charlottetown. (Benedek/iStock/Getty Images)

P.E.I. names new deputy ag minister

Gordon MacFadyen replaces Brian Matheson

Prince Edward Island’s Premier Dennis King has named a new top bureaucrat for the province’s agriculture ministry and others, to manage a fresh round of post-election ministerial mandate letters. Gordon MacFadyen, most recently executive director of fiscal management and assistant secretary to Treasury Board with the provincial finance department, was announced Aug. 8 as deputy


CME October 2023 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 75-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: October live cattle futures lowest since July

October hogs up almost a cent

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures ended lower on Thursday, with the most-active contract hitting its lowest price since July, as the market continued to retreat from recent highs. Futures and cash prices have jumped this year after drought reduced the amount of pastures available for grazing and prompted U.S. cattle

Canada Malting’s processing plant in Montreal. (CanadaMalting.com)

Bureau won’t challenge takeover of Canada Malting parent

U.K. also has 'no further questions'

The owner of one of Canada’s major commercial maltsters says its takeover by a major French peer won’t be challenged by Canada’s antitrust regulator. United Malt Group, whose Canadian assets operate under the Canada Malting banner, last month locked in on a previously announced deal to sell itself to France’s Malteries Soufflet for A$1.5 billion


File photo of a Wyoming corn crop. (RiverNorthPhotography/iStock/Getty Images)

Feed weekly outlook: Market steady in face of harvest, U.S. corn imports

Imports weigh on domestic barley values

MarketsFarm — The feed grain market in Western Canada is holding reasonably steady as harvest operations progress and corn imports continue to come up from the United States. Anecdotal harvest reports were varied so far, with surprisingly positive results from some growers and others who missed out on showers ending up with lower yields, according

File photo of a cornfield in Mexico. (Roberto Cabrera/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. escalates Mexico corn trade spat with dispute panel request

Canada 'considering its next steps'

Washington | Reuters — The United States on Thursday escalated its objections to Mexico’s curbs on genetically modified corn imports, requesting a dispute settlement panel under the North American trade pact, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said. The request to send the dispute to arbitrators was announced after formal consultations failed to resolve deep divisions