Silhouette of corn

A year for corn farmers to manage risk

It’s going to take skill to navigate your way to healthy prices in a year when volatile currency markets will make our price swings even wilder

Reading Time: 5 minutes Corn farmers continue to be bedevilled by low corn futures prices. In Ontario just over a year ago, for instance, the December 2015 corn futures price on August 4, 2014 closed at $4.15 per bushel. This year on August 5, the December 2015 corn futures price closed at $3.78. In the history of agriculture, this […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola climbs despite harvest pressure

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– ICE Futures Canada canola contracts finished higher for the week ended Wednesday, posting gains of $9-$10 per tonne despite mounting harvest pressure and large world supplies of vegetable oil. The slumping Canadian dollar, which momentarily reached its lowest point in 11 years during the session, has been a big reason behind canola’s […] Read more


(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Lower loonie to boost U.S. demand for sunflowers

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Manitoba sunflowers are looking better than they have in recent years, despite minor pest pressure, in one agronomist’s view — and a lower Canadian dollar could be useful for producers looking to sell. Sunflower prices aren’t seeing a lot of movement right now, but demand is good — and with a lower […] Read more



It is often said that soybeans can be the great liars, since their production potential is often very difficult to measure in season. – Philip Shaw (above)

2015 soybean market outlook

Soybean Guide: Demand is keeping pace with increased production, but will that continue? Here’s what to watch

Reading Time: 5 minutes With every new year come great challenges. For Canadian farmers looking out into their 2015 planning horizon, soybeans are increasingly a large part of that. Where once soybeans were relegated to the deep southwest of Ontario, now there are three million acres in Ontario and 836,000 in Quebec, plus over one million acres in Manitoba […] Read more

(Country Guide file photo)

All crops not equal in face of weakening dollar

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– With the Canadian dollar falling to its weakest levels relative to its U.S. counterpart in six years, the general sentiment holds it should be good news for exporters, such as Canadian grain farmers. However, any net benefit may depend on what exactly is being exported and who is doing the buying, according […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola spikes as loonie falls

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts finished higher for the week ended Wednesday, tracking the U.S. soy complex for much of the period but ultimately shooting higher due to the Canadian dollar’s sudden free-fall. The weaker currency helped improve domestic crush margins and also made canola more attractive to exporters pricing in U.S. […] Read more

(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

Feed barley values seen ‘popping’ in January

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– Western Canadian feed barley prices remained firm to start the year, with bids having enjoyed a gradual rise from the $190 per tonne range in late November to the current level of $210 per tonne. “Bids have firmed up, not surprisingly it’s kind of popping in January,” said Allen Pirness, a trader […] Read more