ICE January 2024 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola pulling lower

Futures subject to 'financial gravity'

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange kicked off the week of Oct. 23-27 with sharp losses, as the most heavily traded January contract busted through its support level of $700 per tonne. Among the reasons for canola’s steep fall, as David Derwin pointed out, were the better than average yields from this year’s […] Read more

CME December 2023 lean hogs with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME hog futures hit contract lows

Cattle futures also sag

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell to life-of-contract lows on Friday and cattle futures also retreated, pressured by technical selling and worries that a slowing global economy could hurt demand for meat, traders said. Hog futures fell the most, with the benchmark December contract settling down two cents, […] Read more


CBOT November 2023 soybeans with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans end up in bounce from one-month low

Chicago wheat, corn futures firm

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rose on Friday in a light technical rebound from six-week lows while corn and wheat also ticked higher on bargain-buying, but gains in all three markets were limited by a strong U.S. dollar, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) November soybeans settled up 2-1/2 cents at $12.96-1/4, bouncing after […] Read more

CBOT November 2023 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans fall to one-month low on export woes

CBOT corn, wheat end down

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. benchmark soybean futures fell below US$13 a bushel on Thursday for the first time in a month while corn and wheat futures held near multi-year lows on downbeat weekly export sales, an expanding U.S. harvest and economic worries, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans settled down 26-1/4 cents […] Read more


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

ICE weekly outlook: Which way will canola go?

Basis levels have recently improved

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — As September winds down, ICE Futures canola is poised to either climb higher or fall back, according to analyst Errol Anderson, president of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. That movement will largely be determined by the direction taken by November soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade, which currently has support at US$13 per […] Read more

A soybean field north of St. Adolphe, Man. on Sept. 17, 2023. (Dave Bedard photo)

CBOT weekly outlook: Funds getting out of soybeans

Potential for U.S. government shutdown a concern

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — While corn and wheat prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) stayed fairly steady during the week ended Wednesday, soybean prices steadily declined. The November soybean contract dropped 30 cents per bushel from one week ago to close Wednesday at $13.1975/bu. (all figures US$). During the same week, December corn only lost […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

FCC offers new credit line against ‘current economic environment’

Ag lender to waive loan processing fees

Reading Time: 2 minutes Farm Credit Canada’s recent outreach to specific agrifood sectors hit by unusual environmental conditions has now extended to those hit by the broader “economic environment.” The federal ag lender on Tuesday said it will offer an unsecured credit line of up to $500,000 with loan processing fees waived, “to help producers, agribusinesses and agri-food operations […] Read more

(Andreswd/iStock/Getty Images)

Feds lock in higher interest-free portion on cash advances

Budget boost in effect as of Monday

Reading Time: 2 minutes A further temporary increase to the interest-free chunk of cash advances available to Canadian farmers, as telegraphed in March’s federal budget, has now gone live. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau confirmed Wednesday that the interest-free limit under the Advance Payments Program (APP) for the 2023 program year is now $350,000, effective Monday (May 8). The regulatory […] Read more


CME June 2023 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle hit five-week low

Technical selling, economic worries add pressure; June hogs up

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures dropped to their lowest level in more than five weeks on Tuesday as technical selling and concerns about the U.S. economy weighed on prices, analysts said. Economic worries increased after the failure over the weekend of First Republic Bank. Wall Street stock indexes sagged ahead […] Read more

(Shotbydave/iStock/Getty Images)

Buy or rent? Land rent-to-price ratio can help farmers decide

FCC sees current ratios on farmland as (roughly) stable

Reading Time: 4 minutes Higher interest rates don’t seem to be affecting the ratio between land values and land rental costs — at least, not yet. Farm Credit Canada’s latest analysis of farmland rental prices says they’re roughly maintaining their traditional linkage, says J.P Gervais, the organization’s chief economist. “We were curious to see whether that would bring up […] Read more