ICE November 2020 canola (candlesticks) with 20- and 100-day moving averages and CBOT October 2020 soyoil (blue line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola backs off two-year highs

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts have shown weakness in recent trading sessions, after hitting two-year highs last week. The November canola contract, which closed Sept. 16 at $530.20 per tonne, has since lost over $10, closing Wednesday at $519.60. “Last week when canola moved up very strongly, it just sort of got ahead of […] Read more



Strip till goes mainstream

Strip till goes mainstream

Improvements in guidance and a focus on soil health are the primary drivers

Reading Time: 7 minutes The concept is simple. With just one pass, run a tillage implement through the field that clears a strip of residue and builds a small ridge that will get the crop off to a fast start next spring because you can plant straight into it, and it will warm faster than the rest of the […] Read more

CBOT December 2020 wheat with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn, soy fall as dollar rises

U.S. harvest accelerates, adding pressure

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures dropped 1.8 per cent on Wednesday, pressured by a firm dollar that traders said was depressing already weak overseas demand for U.S. supplies. “We are still not getting the export demand,” said Mark Schultz, chief market analyst at Northstar Commodity. “There is plenty of wheat […] Read more


Wine grapes are seen hanging with remnants of smoke and ash at Hanson Vineyards at Woodburn, Oregon, about 45 km south of Portland, on Sept. 17, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton)

Charred U.S. west’s ‘wet ashtray’ wine grapes left to birds

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — Heavy ground smoke clouded Hanson Vineyards in Oregon’s picturesque Willamette Valley for more than a week following a Labour Day windstorm that kicked up wildfires across the western United States. Jason Hanson expects his crews may only harvest five tons of grapes, including his Chardonnay and Gamay varieties, down from the 25 to […] Read more

(Greg Berg photo)

Oats values hold steady at harvest

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The oats market in Western Canada is holding relatively steady despite seasonal harvest pressure, although yields failed to live up to earlier expectations. “Steady at harvest time is good,” said Scott Shiels, grain procurement merchant with Grain Millers in Yorkton. Prices often dip at harvest time due to increased deliveries, he noted, but […] Read more


Chickpeas. (CalypsoArt/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Chickpea production expected up in 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Following an expected 11.4 per cent drop in Saskatchewan’s chickpea harvest this year, provincial pulse specialist Dale Risula is expecting an increase in 2021. In Statistics Canada’s most recent field crop report, issued last week, chickpea production in Saskatchewan was estimated to have dropped from 224,600 tonnes in 2019 to 199,010 tonnes this […] Read more

CBOT November 2020 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy lower as harvest pressure overshadows buying

Egypt buys Russian wheat at international tender

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures ended lower on Tuesday, retreating from early strength as pressure from the expanding U.S. harvest outweighed support from continued soy sales to China and strength in soymeal futures, traders said. Corn futures drifted lower on strong U.S. crop ratings and promising Midwest harvest weather, but wheat gained on […] Read more


Charles Baron and partners brought FBN to Canada in 2017, buying Saskatchewan-based Yorkton Distributors. (FBN video screengrab via YouTube)

FBN cuts yearly membership fee to zero

Ag e-commerce firm offers free accounts to farmers

Reading Time: 2 minutes E-marketplace Farmers Business Network (FBN) has disposed of the annual membership fee that allowed members access to its various buying groups and services. California-based FBN, which has operated in the U.S. since 2014 and expanded to Canada in 2017, announced Tuesday (Sept. 15) its farmer members may now have “access to a select range of […] Read more

CBOT December 2020 wheat with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat, soy, corn fall sharply on fund selling

'It is basically risk-off across the board'

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean, corn and wheat futures plunged on Monday as concerns about fresh coronavirus-driven lockdowns due to rising global case counts sparked a wave of risk-off trades. The grains, led by a 3.7 per cent drop in wheat that marked its biggest daily percentage decline since August 2019, […] Read more