The SWOT spacecraft is moved into a transport container inside the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 18, 2022. (Photo: USSF 30th Space Wing/Chris Okula)

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

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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 January 2023 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

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

CBOT March 2023 soft red winter wheat with 20-day moving average (green line), MGEX March 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. March 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

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


Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her family home in Vancouver in this May 8, 2019 file photo. (Photo: Reuters/Lindsey Wasson)

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

Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves B.C. Supreme Court on a lunch break during her extradition hearing in Vancouver on Jan. 22, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

Huawei executive’s U.S. bank fraud charges to be dismissed

Charges remain against company itself

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. prosecutors on Thursday asked a judge to dismiss bank fraud and other charges against Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies, whose 2018 arrest strained relations between the U.S. and China. Meng struck a deal with the prosecutors last year for the charges against her to be dismissed on […] Read more


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Environment Canada sees ‘average’ Prairie winter ahead

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — An ‘average’ winter is in the forecast for most of the Canadian Prairies, according to the latest long-range seasonal forecast for December through February from Environment Canada, released Wednesday. The government department is calling for normal temperatures across all the agricultural areas of the three Prairie provinces — aside from the northernmost reaches […] Read more

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Opinions divided ahead of StatCan production report

Agency's previous estimates model-based

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Ahead of the crop production report from Statistics Canada (StatCan) due out Friday, trade expectations are above and below what the federal agency estimated in September. In August, and in September, StatCan issued production reports based on a satellite model and without any input from farmers filling out surveys. That has caused some […] Read more


Yellow peas. (Victoria Popova/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Yellow peas under pressure from large volumes

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Large volumes of yellow peas being delivered into commercial hands have put some pressure on values, although prices remain reasonably solid. Green and maple pea bids are stronger, but movement is more limited in those markets. End users were active buyers of yellow peas in recent months, but many are now filled up […] Read more

File photo of a suspension footbridge in Thailand. (Tinnakorn Jorruang/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada to boost defence, cyber security in Indo-Pacific policy

New policy document puts focus on 'disruptive' China

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada launched its long-awaited Indo-Pacific strategy on Sunday, outlining $2.3 billion in spending to boost military and cyber security in the region and vowed to deal with a “disruptive” China while working with it on climate change and trade issues. The plan detailed in a 26-page document said Canada will tighten […] Read more