Reading Time: 2 minutes A major Prairie hog slaughter and processing plant relatively untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic has marked its first case of the coronavirus in a production line worker. Olymel, the meat packing arm of Quebec ag co-operative Sollio, said an employee who reported for work Monday last week at its Red Deer, Alta. plant began showing […] Read more
Red Deer hog plant books first COVID case
One employee confirmed with virus, 13 isolating as precaution, company says
ICE weekly outlook: Canola facing resistance ahead of harvest
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts backed away from nearby highs during the week ended Wednesday, signalling that the top may be in for the time being as the harvest gets started. “There’s clearly been a shift in canola,” Ken Ball of PI Financial in Winnipeg said of the move away from the early August […] Read more
U.S. farmers to harvest record-large corn crop, second-largest soy crop, USDA says
Estimates don't include impact of recent Midwest storm
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. farmers will reap their biggest corn harvest and their second biggest soybean harvest this fall as good summer weather shepherded the crops through key phases of development, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday. The crop outlooks, which also included average yields for both corn and soybeans as the largest […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: WASDE largely neutral for soy, corn
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had a “benign effect” on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), according to one trader. That’s mainly because U.S. production estimates for corn, wheat, and soybeans were largely unchanged. The U.S. soybean production estimate for 2020-21 was unchanged […] Read more
COVID concerns weigh on chicken farmers, processors
Sales crashed on lack of foodservice business
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa — Chicken Farmers of Canada say they’ve faced a “sharp decline” in sales as a result of a significant drop in food services, which represents roughly 40 per cent of their market. CFC chair Benoît Fontaine warned federal MPs as much during a virtual meeting of the Commons standing committee on agriculture and agri-food […] Read more
Global wheat, corn, soy production expected to increase
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Global crop production in the latest monthly supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expected to increase for wheat, corn and soybeans. USDA released its world agriculture supply and demand estimates (WASDE) on Tuesday. The expectation is that global wheat production will be bumped up by 0.56 per […] Read more
U.S. corn production expected way up in USDA’s May WASDE
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — There will be sharp increases in the United States’ 2020-21 corn production — and especially in ending stocks, according to the latest monthly supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The department issued its latest world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) on Tuesday. U.S. soybean planted acres and […] Read more
Global grain production to exceed 2.2 billion tonnes, IGC predicts
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The International Grain Council (IGC) has revised its latest monthly forecast of global grain production down slightly. The IGC projected global production in 2020-21 to hit 2.218 billion tonnes its April 30 report, for a drop of five million tonnes from its March estimate. The reduction was due to the dry conditions in […] Read more
Pandemic to delay StatsCan’s agriculture reports
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Farmers, commodity traders and market analysts will have to wait a while for agriculture-related reports from Statistics Canada in 2020. The main reason for the delay is the COVID-19 pandemic, said John Seay, an analyst with StatsCan’s agriculture, energy, environment and transportation statistics branch in Ottawa. “Given the COVID-19 outbreak, senior management is […] Read more
Global grain production to increase, IGC predicts
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The International Grains Council (IGC) issued projections Thursday calling for a slight increase in total global grain production for the current marketing year and for 2020-21. The U.K.-based council forecast world production at 2.175 billion tonnes, which would be an increase of three million tonnes from its February report. The IGC said that’s […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
