Short canola supplies force buyers to be creative

There has been little uptake in new milling wheat, durum and barley contracts, which puts their futures in doubt

Steady demand provided canola futures on the ICE Canada platform with plenty of support during the week ended Oct. 26. Much of the demand was associated with the emergence of fresh Chinese buying interest, with at least three cargoes of Canadian canola purchased by the country. There were hints that additional sales were made, but

EU may extend zero import duties

Reuters / The European Union’s cereals management committee will vote Nov. 8 on whether to extend the suspension of the bloc’s import duties on feed wheat and barley until the end of June 2013, a draft regulation showed. In June, the European Union suspended its import duties of 12 euros per tonne for low- and


EU decries Ukraine’s decision to halt wheat exports

Reuters / The European Union’s top farm official says Ukraine’s decision to ban wheat exports from Nov. 15 risked increasing world grain prices and disturbing international trade flows. “I am deeply disappointed to see this announcement. It will add unnecessary tension to international agricultural markets, and those that will suffer most will be the world’s

Consumers, farmers squeezed as grain giants tighten grip

Reuters / A global race for grain trading power is putting more of the world’s vital cereals in the hands of fewer companies, with a string of recent acquisitions raising fears that consumers will pay even more for their food, while farmers are squeezed. Archer Daniels Midland last week bid for Australia’s last independent grain


Syngenta to enter Prairie canola seed market

Syngenta plans to broaden its canola portfolio beyond chemicals and launch its own new canola seed varieties on the Prairies starting next fall. “This is an exceptional time to be in the canola seed market, given the extent of breeding and varietal development activities going on across the country,” Dave Sippell, Syngenta’s head of diverse

British wheat imports to soar as crop quality fails

Britain is on the hunt for high-quality bread wheat after 
domestic production and quality come up short

Reuters / Britain will be a net importer of wheat for the first time in a decade this year, turning customer to its traditional export rivals after a disease-ravaged harvest, much of which fails to meet the quality required for bread. Traders and analysts said diseases fuelled by the wettest June since records began more


Letters — for 2012-11-01 00:00:00

Expense to farmers considered inconsequential Regarding the opinion piece by Ronald Doering in the Oct. 25 Manitoba Co-operator, the statement “Adventitious presence does not meet the definition of an (adulterating) ingredient (and therefore)… Health Canada… would not favour a “contains” or “may contain” (food label) statement,” this is a corporate-friendly, citizen-unfriendly, double-standard con job! Note

New study says productivity gains reshaping agriculture

Canadian farmers have become a lot more productive in the past 15 years, according to a new study by BMO Bank of Montreal. “With the quantity of land devoted to farming relatively stable and reliance on government support generally in decline, the industry is truly doing more with less,” said David Rinneard, the bank’s national



Soy in the wheat flour? Soy what?

Most wheat and wheat-derived food products sold in Canadian grocery stores today contain soy that is undeclared on the label. Yes, you read that right. Because of farming operations with common storage facilities, and shared harvesting and transportation equipment, most wheat products contain detectable levels of soy. This contamination is adventitious and largely unavoidable with