Erich Vetter was looking for challenge and opportunity when he abandoned Germany’s heavily regulated agriculture 13 years ago. In the valley, he says, he’s found plenty of both.

The life of the Red River

It took vision to turn the Red River Valley into some of Canada’s most productive farmland. And it still takes vision to farm it today

Reading Time: 10 minutes Two centuries ago, when the Scottish settlers first began to arrive, the Garden of Eden was nowhere in sight. This place was marsh, it seemed all but useless, and it took farmers to find the value in Manitoba’s famously fertile Red River Valley and to make it habitable. The valley was 60 per cent wetland […] Read more

Photo: iStock

U.S. grains: Soybeans end mixed on South America rains, strong U.S. exports

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – U.S. soybean futures were mixed on Monday as continued strong U.S. exports fuelled concern over tightening supplies, although crop-boosting rains in South America over the weekend lessened some of the concern. Corn was firmer on solid global demand for the grain. Wheat futures followed, lifted by technical buying and short covering […] Read more


(Getty Images)

Grain, seed corn growers get access to seasonal worker program

Maple syrup also added to national commodity list

Reading Time: 2 minutes Growers of grains, oilseeds and seed corn and maple syrup producers may be able to get in on the federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) for the 2021 season. Federal Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough announced Nov. 27 the national commodity list (NCL) would be expanded to include seed corn, oil seed, grains and maple syrup […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids mixed

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Wheat bids in Western Canada were mixed during the week ended Thursday, with Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat mostly stronger while losses were seen in Manitoba. Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) and Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) wheats were on either side of unchanged. Average CWRS (13.5 per cent protein) wheat prices […] Read more


A farmer prays to mark the 551st birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru and founder of Sikh faith, at Singhu border near Delhi on Nov. 30, 2020, at the site of a protest against newly passed farm bills. (Photo: Reuters/Danish Siddiqui)

India considers changing new farm laws after mass protests

Reading Time: 2 minutes New Delihi | Reuters — India’s government is considering rolling back some parts of its agricultural reforms after they triggered the biggest protests by farmers in years, officials said on Friday. Tens of thousands of farmers were out on the streets around Delhi again on Friday, rallying against three laws that the government says are […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Fund net long in canola steady, despite liquidation in U.S.

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The large net long position fund traders are holding in canola futures held relatively steady during the week ended Tuesday, despite long liquidation in U.S. grains and oilseeds, according to the latest commitment of traders (CoT) report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Managed money fund traders on Tuesday were holding […] Read more


(PortOfHalifax.ca)

Grain, oilseed exports well ahead of year-ago

Chinese demand up substantially for Canada's crops

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canadian grain exports continue to run at a very solid pace, with canola, wheat and barley movement-to-date all up substantially on the year. Total exports of Canada’s major grains and oilseeds as of Nov. 29 came in at 18.9 million tonnes, according to Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) data. That’s up by nearly five […] Read more

CBOT March 2021 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat posts weekly dip as supply worries ease

Corn, soy futures also lower

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell more than one per cent on Friday and recorded a weekly loss as expectations for bumper wheat harvests in Australia and Canada tempered fears of tightening global supplies. Corn and soybean futures declined on forecasts for beneficial rains in northern and central Brazil, although worries about dry […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

CWB class-action suit a step closer to litigation

Manitoba Court of Appeal overrules lower court, allows case to seek certification

Reading Time: 3 minutes A proposed class-action lawsuit against the federal government and G3, alleging millions of dollars of farmers’ money was improperly used to privatize the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) in 2012, is a step closer to certification and litigation, says Stewart Wells, chair of the Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board, which is backing the suit. The […] Read more

(GFM Network staff photo)

Ag publishing house Issues Ink sold

Farms.com buys Winnipeg media company

Reading Time: < 1 minute Online ag information company Farms.com has taken another step into Canadian print media by buying ag publishing and consulting company Issues Ink. Winnipeg-based Issues Ink publishes Germination, Spud Smart, the Alberta Seed Guide, European Seed and Seed World. Its Seed World Group division also includes Seed World Create, a consulting unit providing marketing and communications […] Read more