(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Canadian Pacific to buy Kansas City Southern in bet on trade

Biggest North American rail deal ever valued at US$25 billion

Reading Time: 4 minutes Reuters — Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) agreed on Sunday to acquire Kansas City Southern in a US$25 billion cash-and-stock deal to create the first railway spanning the United States, Mexico and Canada, standing to benefit from a pickup in trade. It would be the largest ever combination of North American railways by transaction value. It […] Read more

A cornfield in Mexico’s Chihuahua state. (Undefined undefined/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexico farm lobby blasts ban on GMO corn

Country's organic growers welcome ban

Reading Time: 2 minutes Monterrey, Mexico | Reuters — Mexico’s main agricultural lobby on Saturday criticized the government’s decision to ban genetically modified corn, while organic growers hailed the move that should protect smaller farmers. Mexico will “revoke and refrain from granting permits for the release of genetically modified corn seeds into the environment,” stated a decree issued Thursday […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Corn, wheat hit two-week lows on COVID-19 fears

Commodity selling continues dragging on grains, analysts say

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. grain futures extended losses on Thursday, with corn and wheat hitting two-week lows as concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact weighed on prices. Improving global crop weather added pressure on prices, with rains benefiting dry wheat-growing areas in the U.S. and Russia and soybean-producing regions of Brazil, traders said. […] Read more

(CBSA via YouTube)

Feds seek feedback on farm worker living conditions

Consultations focused on 'primary agriculture' labour stream of TFWs

Reading Time: 3 minutes Improving and standardizing living conditions for temporary foreign workers (TFWs) in Canada — specifically, those on Canadian farms — is the subject of a new round of federal consultations. Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Tuesday announced consultations are now underway until Dec. 22 with “provinces and territories, employers, workers, worker […] Read more


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

U.S. grains: Dry soils push Chicago wheat higher

CBOT corn, soy futures also rise

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures firmed on Monday, hitting almost six-year highs, on concerns about dry conditions across key global growing areas, traders said. But gains were limited as investors stood by after prices have rallied 8.6 per cent so far this month. “The market is just […] Read more

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

U.S. grains: CBOT wheat hits 2014 high on global crop concerns

Soybean futures retreat from gains

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures surged to their highest prices in nearly six years on Friday as dry weather in key growing regions around the world fueled supply concerns. Corn futures ended lower, after touching a 14-month high on prospects for hefty sales to China, and soybeans also slumped. Traders are keeping a […] Read more


CBOT November 2020 soybeans with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans rebound from prior day’s plunge

Wheat flat as stronger dollar offsets dryness concerns; corn up on exports to Mexico

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures rose on Tuesday, a day after the market’s largest drop in six months slowed a rash of farmer selling, traders said. Chicago wheat futures rose slightly but were capped by a strong U.S. dollar, while CBOT corn gained on fresh export sales to Mexico. CBOT November soybeans closed […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Mexico to phase out use of glyphosate

Farmers to have until 2024 to phase out herbicide

Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico will gradually phase out use of the herbicide glyphosate by the time the current administration ends in late 2024, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Wednesday, following a ministerial spat over the product. Acknowledging differences between his agriculture and environment ministries over the herbicide, which is used in […] Read more


A view near the Canadian end of the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Windsor and Detroit and is considered one of North America’s busiest trade routes. (Steven_Kriemadis/iStock/Getty Images)

Non-essential travel limits extended at U.S. borders with Canada, Mexico

Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington/Ottawa | Reuters — Restrictions on non-essential travel at U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico will be extended through Aug. 21, Canada and the United States announced Thursday. “Canada and the United States have agreed to extend the current border measures by one month until Aug. 21, and we’re going to keep working closely […] Read more

(LIVINUS/iStock/Getty Images)

Mexico to resume sending farmworkers to Canada after safety agreement

Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico will resume sending temporary farmworkers to Canada after the two countries reached an agreement on improved safety protections for labourers on Canadian farms during the coronavirus pandemic, the Mexican government said Sunday. Mexico said last Tuesday it would pause sending workers to farms with coronavirus infections after at least […] Read more