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Manitoba seeding progress nears halfway mark

Reading Time: < 1 minute Spring seeding in Manitoba neared the halfway mark during the week ended May 21, with 47 per cent of intended acres in the ground, according to the latest provincial crop report. That compares with 30 per cent the previous week and the five-year average of 52 per cent done.

Toby checks out a southern Manitoba sunflower field in this file photo. (Glen Hallick photo)

Manitoba sunflower yields better than anticipated

Some crops may be left over winter

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — With most of Manitoba’s sunflower harvest believed to be almost complete for 2023, yields have proven to be better than expected, according to Dennis Lange at Manitoba Agriculture. “I’ve heard good comments from some in the industry that the sunflower crop looks pretty good this year,” Lange said, noting Manitoba yields were estimated […] Read more


A seaport grain terminal damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes in Odesa region, Ukraine on July 19, 2023. (Photo: Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry via Facebook/Handout via Reuters)

Russia destroyed 300,000 tonnes of grain since July in attacks, Kyiv says

Port damage cuts export potential 40 per cent, deputy PM says

Reading Time: < 1 minute Kyiv | Reuters — Russia has destroyed almost 300,000 metric tonnes of grain since July in attacks on Ukraine’s port facilities and on ships, the Ukrainian government said on Friday, underscoring the war’s threat to global food security. In summer, Moscow quit a U.N.-brokered deal that had allowed exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black […] Read more

File photo of barley being unloaded at a grain terminal in Ukraine on June 23, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Igor Tkachenko)

U.N. held talks in Russia on Monday on grain, fertilizer exports

'Unimpeded access' sought for Ukrainian, Russian grain

Reading Time: 2 minutes United Nations | Reuters — Top United Nations trade official Rebeca Grynspan met with Russian officials in Moscow on Monday for talks aimed at enabling the “unimpeded access” to global markets for grain and fertilizer from Russia and Ukraine, a U.N. spokesperson said. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths also attended the meetings virtually, U.N. spokesperson […] Read more


Liberia-flagged bulker K Sukret, carrying grain under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, waits for inspection in the southern anchorage of Istanbul on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Mehmet Emin Caliskan)

Britain says Russia may target civilian shipping with mines in Black Sea

Intel suggests goal is to deter Ukraine grain exports, Britain says

Reading Time: < 1 minute London | Reuters — Russia may use sea mines to target civilian shipping in the Black Sea, including by laying them on the approach to Ukrainian ports, the British government said on Wednesday citing intelligence. Russia in July pulled out of a deal that had allowed Ukraine to safely ship food products out through what […] Read more

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)

Russia’s leverage on grain to decline, senior U.S. official says

Attacks on ships may hurt pricing

Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Russia’s leverage over Ukraine’s export of grain via the Black Sea will likely erode in weeks to come as more ships are able to leave Ukrainian ports and rising costs could prompt Moscow to reconsider its abandonment of the grain deal, a senior U.S. State Department official said. James O’Brien, […] Read more


File photo of a bulk vessel at a port grain terminal at Constanta, Romania. (Sergii Zhmurchak/iStock/Getty Images)

Romania, Ukraine to work on grain import-export licensing system

Three other EU countries have bans in place

Reading Time: 2 minutes Bucharest | Reuters — Romania will work with Ukraine over the next 30 days on a grain export control plan that will help protect Romanian farmers, Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu said on Wednesday. Romania is among five eastern European Union countries along with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia that saw a surge of Ukrainian grain […] Read more

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Kyiv acts on ‘compromise’ plan after filing WTO complaint over food ban

Three EU countries have restricted Ukraine grain imports

Reading Time: 3 minutes Kyiv | Reuters — Ukraine appealed to three neighbouring countries in the European Union on Tuesday to embark on “constructive dialogue” to end a dispute over agricultural trade, and approved what it called a “compromise scenario.” Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on imports from Ukraine on Friday after the European Commission decided not to […] Read more


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Farm trade dispute creates rift between Ukraine and its allies

Ukraine sues three EU member states at WTO

Reading Time: 3 minutes Brussels/Kyiv | Reuters — A dispute over agricultural trade created a rift on Monday between Ukraine and some of its strongest allies in the European Union after three member states imposed unilateral measures to restrict imports from the war-torn country. Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on imports on Friday after the European Commission decided […] Read more

File photo of barley being unloaded at a grain terminal in Ukraine on June 23, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Igor Tkachenko)

Poland, Hungary, Slovakia to continue own bans on Ukraine grain

European Commission decides not to extend ban

Reading Time: 3 minutes Brussels/Warsaw | Reuters — Poland, Slovakia and Hungary will impose their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports, the governments said on Friday, after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban affecting Ukraine’s five EU neighbours. Restrictions imposed by the European Union in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic […] Read more