Emerging winter wheat plants. (File photo by Laura Rance)

Not warm enough yet for accurate read on Ontario winter crops

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm –– The crop report on Wednesday from Ontario’s ministry of agriculture, food and rural affairs (OMAFRA) notes a lack of temperatures warm enough to accurately assess winter crops and/or to begin spring planting. OMAFRA determined winter wheat that was seeded on time looks healthier than what was planted later in the fall. Also, water […] Read more



The United Nations’ General Assembly Hall in Manhattan. (BWZenith/iStock/Getty Images)

Food, farming, forestry must be transformed to curb global warming, UN says

Earlier draft of panel report called for reduced intake of meat

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Protecting forests, changing diets, and altering farming methods could contribute around a quarter of the greenhouse gas cuts needed to avert the worst impacts of climate change, according to the United Nations’ climate panel. But the changes are unlikely to happen unless governments act to spur them along, the report from the Intergovernmental […] Read more

File photo of a lentil crop before harvest in Saskatchewan. (Bobloblaw/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Saskatchewan growers wait for rain

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — As the snow melts on the Prairies, pulse growers are making their final preparations before seeding, while at the same time hoping not to see a repeat of last year’s historic drought. In Saskatchewan, snow cover has varied in pulse-growing areas, making some growers nervous. “There’s still a lot of concern about dryness […] Read more


A drone photo from the Sampona commune of Madagascar on Feb. 11, 2022, shows Zebu cattle drinking water from a large puddle created from Cyclone Batsirai. The island nation’s south has been experiencing severe drought for the past four years, putting it in danger of what the World Food Programme calls “the world’s first climate change famine.” (Photo: Reuters/Alkis Konstantinidis)

U.N. to roll out global early-warning systems for extreme weather

Reading Time: 2 minutes London | Reuters –– With climate change fueling dangerous weather worldwide, the United Nations is pledging that early-warning weather monitoring will cover everyone on the planet in five years. “Half of humanity is already in the danger zone,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said earlier this week. And yet, “one-third of the world’s people, mainly in […] Read more

CBOT May 2022 corn (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: Grain markets rangebound

Drought seen persisting for U.S.

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — With very little in terms of major new developments from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, grain prices on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) for the week ended Tuesday were devoid of the volatility seen in previous weeks. The May corn contract traded at each side of the $7.50 per bushel mark during […] Read more


(Lightguard/iStock/Getty Images)

Saskatchewan pushes crop insurance deadline to mid-April

'Logistical challenges' led to extension

Reading Time: < 1 minute Saskatchewan farmers will get an extra couple of weeks to apply for, cancel, reinstate or change their crop insurance contracts for 2022, due to holdups in the delivery of their application packages. That deadline, originally March 31, has now been extended to April 14, provincial Ag Minister David Marit and his federal counterpart Marie-Claude Bibeau […] Read more

Drought conditions in Canada at Feb. 28, 2022. (Map courtesy Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Most of Prairies still very dry, but recovery possible

Southern Manitoba considered out of drought

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Despite the Prairies receiving above-normal amounts of precipitation during February, the great majority of the region remained highly vulnerable to more dryness going into spring, according to the Canadian Drought Monitor. The monitor’s latest report showed those areas of the Prairies tackling extreme drought to have retracted somewhat. As of Feb. 28, that […] Read more


File photo of a Saskatchewan grid road in winter. (Daxus/iStock/Getty Images)

Environment Canada calls for colder-than-normal Prairie spring

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Colder-than-normal temperatures are in the long-range forecast across most of the Canadian Prairies, according to the latest long-range outlook from Environment Canada. The latest seasonal forecast from the government agency, released Monday, calls for a 40-50 per cent chance of below-normal temperatures from March through May for most of the three Prairie provinces, […] Read more

File photo of growing corn plants. (Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Bayer rolling out short corn variety tolerant of weather extremes

Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Global farm chemicals and seeds maker Bayer will launch a corn variety in the United States next year that it says will better tolerate heavy winds associated with climate change, estimating future sales in North America as high as one billion euros. The corn, which grows one-third shorter than current varieties, will be […] Read more