(Dave Bedard photo)

ICE weekly outlook: Weather trumps Trump on canola

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts posted substantial gains during the week ended Wednesday, taking strength from a rally in the soy complex. Both front-end contracts rose $17 on the week, with the March contract jumping from $498 at its Jan. 11 close to settle at $515 a week later. Weather concerns in […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola acres seen rising on high prices

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brandon | Reuters — Canadian canola plantings may rise slightly in spring as farmers seek to cash in before an expected drop in vegetable oil prices as palm crops recover from drought that hit major Southeast Asian producers, German oilseed analysis firm Oil World said Tuesday. Plantings will rise by less than 10 per cent […] Read more


(EC.europa.eu)

EU-Canada trade deal clears further hurdles in Europe

Reading Time: 2 minutes Brussels | Reuters — A planned EU-Canada free trade deal received backing from a committee of the European Parliament and Germany’s top court on Thursday, increasing its chances of entering force later this year. The European Union and Canada signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in October, but only after opposition from a […] Read more

Canola plants with clubroot galls from a field near Verner, Ont., about 50 km west of North Bay. (OntarioCanolaGrowers.ca)

Clubroot arrives in Ontario canola

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario has its first case of clubroot disease in canola — and further testing has confirmed clubroot in canola fields across the province. During the 2016 growing season an agronomist in the Verner area of northern Ontario examined a canola field and found the distinctive clubbed roots, said Meghan Moran, canola and edible bean specialist […] Read more


(DonaldJTrump.com)

Protectionism game comes with raised economic stakes: Frum

Reading Time: 3 minutes As U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration day approaches, the business world is pondering how the new administration might affect the world economy. Trump’s pride in his unpredictability is troubling, given he’s the president-elect, said David Frum, political commentator, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and a senior editor for Washington-based magazine The Atlantic. However, […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola watching South America

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts moved lower during the week ended Wednesday, breaking below some chart resistance levels in the process. The chart pattern is turning flat, however, and further moves will likely depend on outside factors. Speculators have moved to the short side in the canola market, which accounted for some […] Read more


March 2017 canola, with the simple 200-day moving average included in orange. (Barchart.com)

Tipping point seen for March canola

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola futures find themselves at a bit of a tipping point from a chart standpoint, with the most active March contract settling right at the $500 per tonne mark on Tuesday. In addition to being a psychological benchmark, $500 is also within 30 cents of the 200-day moving average […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Cargill profit jumps on meat demand, big U.S. crops

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill on Tuesday reported a sharply higher adjusted quarterly profit led by strong results from its beef and turkey businesses and robust demand for North American grain and oilseed crops. The privately held company said adjusted operating earnings jumped nearly 80 per cent in the second quarter ended Nov. 30 […] Read more


Francois-Philippe Champagne, shown here last month in a holiday video message to constituents, has been named federal minister for international trade. (FPChampagne.liberal.ca)

Trade lawyer named federal trade minister

Reading Time: 2 minutes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s latest mini-cabinet shuffle puts a Quebec lawyer specializing in international trade into the trade minister’s chair. Trudeau on Tuesday appointed Francois-Philippe Champagne, the rookie MP for the Shawinigan-area riding of Saint-Maurice-Champlain, as minister of international trade, replacing Chrystia Freeland. Freeland, as widely expected leading up to Tuesday’s announcement, becomes minister of […] Read more

Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, shown here at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in March. Global Affairs Canada via YouTube)

Trudeau to shuffle Dion out of foreign affairs

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters –– Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will shuffle his cabinet this week and is set to move Foreign Minister Stephane Dion, who ran into political trouble last year, a person with knowledge of the matter said on Monday. “Dion is out,” said the person, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of […] Read more