An aerial view of an Aramco tank farm at Ras Tanura, a Persian Gulf port city on a peninsula in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Photo: Aramco.com

Iran war to disrupt urea and sulphur supplies

The Middle East accounts for 50 per cent of global sulphur exports and 34 per cent of urea shipments

For Prairie farmers in need of spring fertilizers, ongoing war in the Middle East will have the biggest impact on urea and sulphur prices, an Argus market analyst says.

A hand picks up basashi (raw horse sashimi) with chopsticks. Photo: Show999/iStock/Getty Images

Horse live export ban on back burner

Animal welfare group says it still seeks ban but government has bigger fish to fry

Animal welfare groups still hope Canada’s Parliament will ban the export of live horses for slaughter, a topic back in the news due to a recent court case in Manitoba.


(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Manitoba hog yard cleared for U.S. export

Separate export certificate had been required for yard's cull sows

U.S. authorities have lifted an order that required sows from one Manitoba assembly yard to be certified free of Seneca Valley virus before crossing the border.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed Canada in the second-last week of November had now met protocol conditions for Seneca Valley virus and has lifted the health certificate requirement,

 PHOTO: Laura Rance

CGC repeals grading changes in response to producer complaints

The new regulations would have seen export grade standards applied to deliveries to country elevators

Days before implementation, the Canadian Grain Commission repealed grading changes in response to complaints from producer groups. In a news release, Friday, the CGC simply stated it was repealing the alignment of primary and export tolerances for test weight and total foreign materials for Canada Western Red Spring, Canada Western Hard White Spring, Canada Western Extra


Photo: iStock

Grain groups find common ground over grading changes

In a rare move, the Wheat Growers and Farmers Union are on the same side of an issue

Two producer groups ordinarily at the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum have teamed up and come out swinging against proposed changes to wheat grading. The Wheat Growers Association (WGA) and National Farmers’ Union (NFU)have issued a joint statement decrying changes that will take effect August 1 which would see the export grade standard applied

File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

Russian diplomat accuses Ukraine of using Black Sea grain corridor for attacks

Russia says it's negotiating exports of food to countries most in need

Moscow | Reuters – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin on Friday accused Ukraine of using a grain export corridor in the Black Sea to launch “terrorist attacks” against Russian interests, including one this week on the Crimean Bridge. Vershinin was addressing a briefing about Russia’s decision on Monday to quit the year-old Black Sea


Vessels are seen as they await inspection under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, in the southern anchorage of the Bosphorus at Istanbul on Dec. 11, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Yoruk Isik)

Black Sea grain deal expires after Russia quits

United Nations says the move would "strike a blow to people in need everywhere"

United Nations/Moscow | Reuters – A deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine’s grain for the past year expired on Monday after Russia quit and warned it could not guarantee the safety of ships in a move the United Nations said would “strike a blow to people in need everywhere.” Moscow suggested that

(Dragos Cojocari/iStock/Getty Images)

Pork sector calls for essential service status amid B.C. port strike

Council says pork should receive same consideration as grains

Leaders in Canada’s pork sector are calling on the federal government to give perishable agriculture products the same consideration and protection as grain. The call comes as a longshore workers’ strike at British Columbia’s West Coast ports nears its second week, blocking the shipment of Canadian meat and most other exports. Canadian Pork Council (CPC)



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)

EU plans import curbs on Ukraine grain, farmer supports for border countries

Grain would be let into five countries only for export

Brussels | Reuters — The European Union is preparing 100 million euros (C$147.4 million) in compensation for farmers in five countries bordering Ukraine and plans to introduce restrictions on imports of Ukrainian grains. Pressure has mounted on Brussels to work out a European Union-wide solution after Poland and Hungary banned some imports from Ukraine last