File photo of a bulk port facility in Ukraine. (Olivia Sabeskaya/iStock/Getty Images)

Ukraine grain storage crisis hits home as farmers harvest new crops

Outlook bleak if sea export route not reopened soon

Reading Time: 4 minutes Khreshchate, Ukraine | Reuters — Ukrainian farmer Mykola Tereshchenko hopes to start harvesting his wheat fields this week, but the smallholder in northern Ukraine has nowhere to store the grain. His silos are still crammed full with 1,100 tonnes of grain from last year’s harvest that he can’t export due to the closure of Ukraine’s […] Read more

Cargo ships are docked in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa on Nov. 4, 2016. (File photo: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko)

As Ukraine grain deal emerges, U.S. aims to ease concerns over Russia sanctions

Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters –– The United States on Thursday sought to facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports by reassuring banks, shipping and insurance companies that such transactions would not breach Washington’s sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Enabling those Russian exports is a key part of attempts by the United Nations and Turkish […] Read more


File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

Ukraine grain exports deal to be signed next week, Turkey says

Reading Time: 2 minutes Istanbul/United Nations | Reuters –– Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are due to sign a deal next week aimed at resuming Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports, but U.N. chief Antonio Guterres warned there was still “a long way to go” before there would be peace talks to end the war. Turkish defence minister […] Read more



File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. grains: Wheat firms after Russia strikes Ukraine port

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters – U.S. wheat futures firmed on Wednesday, rebounding from a sharp decline a day earlier as investors covered short positions following a Russian strike on a port in Ukraine that renewed fears about supply shortages, traders said. “Wheat was mostly higher today … after Russia unleashed a missile attack damaging at least […] Read more

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Ukraine grain exports 48 per cent down so far in June

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters – Ukrainian grain exports in the first 22 days of June fell by 48 per cent from a year earlier to 907,000 tonnes, agriculture ministry data showed on Wednesday. The volumes included 803,000 tonnes of corn, 78,000 tonnes of wheat and 21,000 tonnes of barley, the data showed. Ukraine exported up to 6 million […] Read more


File photo of Black Sea port facilities at Odesa, Ukraine. (Leskas/iStock/Getty Images)

Turkish team to discuss Black Sea grain corridor in Russia this week

Turkey proposes to monitor safe passage

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ankara | Reuters — Ankara’s military delegation will travel to Russia this week to discuss details of a possible safe sea corridor in the Black Sea to export Ukrainian grain, Turkish presidency sources said on Tuesday. Russia’s TASS agency confirmed plans for the talks, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine […] Read more

File photo of a bulk port facility in Ukraine. (Olivia Sabeskaya/iStock/Getty Images)

Turkey says Ukraine grain ships could avoid mines

Russia offers safe passage

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ankara/United Nations | Reuters — Russia on Wednesday said it has offered “safe passage” for Ukraine grain shipments from Black Sea ports but is not responsible for establishing the corridors and Turkey suggested that ships could be guided around sea mines. Ukrainian grain shipments have stalled since Russia’s invasion and ports blockade, stoking global prices […] Read more


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June USDA report includes few changes or surprises

U.S. corn, soybean carryout projections down from May's

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — There were only a handful of major changes in the monthly supply and demand report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). “I thought it was neutral to a little bit friendly,” said Terry Reilly, grains analyst with Futures International in Chicago. Perhaps most notable were the ending stocks for new-crop […] Read more

Nutrien’s head office building in Saskatoon. (Liam O’Connor photo)

Nutrien to further boost potash output amid global shortage

Company will also speed up nitrogen capacity boosts

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Nutrien, the world’s largest fertilizer producer, said Thursday it will increase its Canadian potash production by 20 per cent to an annual 18 million tonnes by 2025, helping to address tight supplies that have contributed to a global food shortage. Potash prices have soared since the West imposed sanctions against Russia for Moscow’s […] Read more