(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Red wheats up slightly on week

Prairie durum values down on week

MarketsFarm — Despite adverse weather conditions in both Canada and the U.S., as well as poor growing conditions south of the border, western Canadian wheat bids saw slight increases for the week ended Thursday. A spring snowstorm descended on eastern Saskatchewan, western Manitoba and North Dakota on Wednesday and Thursday, with some parts seeing up

Trucks wait for crossing into Poland at the Rava-Ruska border checkpoint in Ukraine’s Lviv region on April 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Roman Baluk)

Poland pledges aid for farmers as PM slams EU response

PM says EU offer a 'drop in the ocean'

Warsaw | Reuters — European Union measures to help farmers affected by a glut of Ukrainian food imports are too little too late, the Polish prime minister said on Friday, after the government approved 10 billion zlotys (C$3.23 billion) in aid for Polish agriculture. Central European countries are trying to thrash out a deal with


File photo of a canola field in northern France’s Normandy region. (Brasil2/iStock/Getty Images)

France confirms S-metolachlor herbicide ban with 18-month deadline

Ban would mostly affect corn, sunflower crops

Paris | Reuters — France will proceed with a ban on major crop uses of herbicide S-metolachlor owing to concerns over water pollution, with farmers able to use the product for another 18 months, the agriculture ministry said on Friday. The decision follows a ruling in February by health and safety agency ANSES that main

CBOT July 2023 soybeans with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Cheap Brazilian soybeans destined for U.S.

U.S. weather, Ukrainian exports also in focus

Mexico City | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures closed the week down on Friday, extending losses as cheap Brazilian beans were being snatched up by the U.S., the second-largest soy producing country in the world. A drop in prices due to abundant local supplies and cooling demand have made Brazil an attractive origin for soybeans,


A New Holland unit on display at the Yugagro exhibition in Krasnodar, Russia in 2021. (Media.cnhindustrial.com)

CNH sheds Russian business

New Holland, Case IH maker had suspended shipments last year

The maker of Case IH and New Holland tractors and combines is selling its business activities in Russia for about US$60 million. CNH Industrial, which employs about 200 people in Russia, announced the divestment in a release Wednesday without naming the buyer. CNH in March last year suspended all shipments and supplies to Russia and

File photo of grain silos and other buildings at harbourside at Saint Nazaire on France’s west coast. (Sissoupitch/iStock/Getty Images)

French agency drops fumigant ban on non-EU grain exports

Limit on phosphine won't apply if use required for export

Paris | Reuters — French health safety agency ANSES on Thursday cleared the use of phosphine pesticide in contact with grains exported outside the European Union when importing countries require the process, averting a halt to shipments from the EU’s top grain exporter. In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine tablets used for


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Quiet times appear to be ahead

Significant weather event would maybe move prices

MarketsFarm — As feed grain prices on the Canadian Prairies remain relatively stable, the market appear to be “moving to a quiet summer,” according to Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. “Demand remains neutral to weak, and farmers are holding on to their grain that’s left in the bin,” Motz explained, noting feedlots

CBOT July 2023 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago grains down on export data, weather

EU transit plan, Black Sea inspections temper Ukraine fears

Reuters — Chicago grains closed lower Thursday on lower-than-expected U.S. soybean export sales data, and favourable weather that would allow for planting to accelerate in the Midwest farm belt. Grains prices were also impacted by crude oil falling. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said soybean weekly export sales totalled 103,000 tonnes, below forecasts. “Export sales


A vineyard at Naramata in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Global wine trade hits record-high value but volumes fall

Canada 27th in production, sixth in imports

Paris | Reuters — The global wine trade reached record-high value last year, supported by a sharp rise in prices, but the amount of wine sold fell due to weaker demand and logistical problems, an industry body said. The International Organisation for Vine and Wine (OIV) said on Thursday that global wine exports in 2022

Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in degrees Celsius over the tropical Pacific Ocean for the week centred on April 12, 2023. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

World could face record temperatures in 2023 as El Nino returns

New record highs 'more likely than not'

Brussels | Reuters — The world could breach a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, fuelled by climate change and the anticipated return of the El Nino weather phenomenon, climate scientists say. Climate models suggest that after three years of the La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, which generally lowers global