Reading Time: 3 minutes Updated — A global financing firm operating at higher altitudes in Canada’s food and agrifood sector now plans to expand its business down to the farm and ranch level. The Canadian arm of Rabobank — an Amsterdam-based farmer co-operative lender, providing banking, leasing and real estate services in more than 38 countries — announced Tuesday […] Read more
Rabobank to offer Canadian farm-level lending
Dutch co-operative bank's Canadian arm to loan directly to farmers, starting on Prairies
Winter storm causes havoc across Canada
Alberta ranchers shelter cattle against winds
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — Strong winds, freezing rain and heavy snowfall closed schools, cut power to homes and cancelled flights across Canada on Friday as a powerful winter storm swept across the country, prompting authorities to warn people to stay indoors ahead of worsening conditions. The storm is connected to the same freezing weather system […] Read more
U.S. brings new Canadian dairy tariff rate quota complaint
'Additional aspects' of Canadian rules now at issue
Reading Time: 3 minutes U.S. federal trade officials plan a whole other challenge of Canada’s allocations of tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on U.S. dairy imports — on top of a challenge they’re already seeking — saying they’ve now found Canada’s revised policies are problematic in new and different ways. Canada in May published revisions of its TRQ allocation policies […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Tightening Canadian lentil stocks expected
Pea ending stocks more comfortable
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Carryout stocks of Canadian lentils could tighten to their smallest level in seven years by the end of the current 2022-23 marketing year, according to updated supply/demand estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. While lentil production of 2.3 million tonnes was up by 44 per cent from the drought-stricken 2021-22 crop, expectations for […] Read more
Feds open up consultations for sustainable ag strategy
Producer groups to have reps on advisory committee
Reading Time: 3 minutes The federal government has enlisted farm groups on the ground floor of consultations toward development of a long-term strategy to “amplify” the adoption and use of sustainable practices in agriculture over the next year. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Dec. 12 announced the launch of public consultations on strategy development, running from now through March […] Read more
NASA to conduct first global water survey from space
Data would bolster weather and climate forecasts
Reading Time: 3 minutes Los Angeles | Reuters — A NASA-led international satellite mission was set for blastoff from southern California early on Thursday on a major Earth science project to conduct a comprehensive survey of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers for the first time. Dubbed SWOT, short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography, the advanced radar satellite […] Read more
USDA supply/demand estimates show only minor updates
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Updated supply-and-demand (WASDE) tables from the U.S. Department of Agriculture included only minimal adjustments to the U.S. and world numbers, with larger revisions likely in the New Year. U.S. soybean and wheat ending stocks projections for the current marketing year were left unchanged, while the corn number was raised slightly. Total U.S. corn […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Less canola to be exported
Crop expectations from Canada, Australia are factors
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Any hopes of Canada exporting 9.3 million tonnes of canola during 2022-23 have now been dashed for two reasons. One reason is the latest Statistics Canada production report that cut canola production for the current marketing year. The other is the bumper canola crop Australia is now expected to have this year. StatCan’s […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat plunges to three-month low on export competition
Corn also down on weak demand, soybeans rise after selloff
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Chicago wheat extended losses on Friday to a fresh three-month low as modest weekly U.S. exports kept traders’ focus on competition from cheaper Black Sea supplies. Corn also fell, while soybeans rebounded, consolidating after a selloff in the previous session over disappointing U.S. biofuels levels. The most-active wheat contract on the […] Read more
U.S. judge dismisses indictment against Huawei executive
Related charges remain against company
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — A U.S. judge on Friday dismissed an indictment against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies, formally ending a criminal sanctions case that strained U.S.-China and Canada-China relations. Meng, whose father Ren Zhengfei founded Huawei and is the telecommunications company’s chief executive, entered an agreement with U.S. prosecutors […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
