MGEX September 2021 wheat (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (black line), CBOT and K.C. September 2021 wheats (green and yellow lines) and CBOT December 2021 corn (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat futures rally after U.S. slashes harvest estimates

Agency raises U.S. corn crop forecast from June

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures climbed on Monday on lower-than-expected production estimates for domestic crops damaged by searing weather and drought, analysts said. Corn and soybean futures also jumped. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a monthly report, slashed its harvest outlook for spring wheat other than durum by 41 per cent from […] Read more

An undated photo from CN’s media gallery shows a locomotive travelling through the Ashcroft, B.C. area. (CN.ca)

CN, CP trains ordered to slow down against fire risk

Ministerial order in effect until Oct. 31

Reading Time: 3 minutes A new federal ministerial order calls for Canada’s big two railways to significantly cut their train speeds in any areas deemed to be at an “extreme” fire risk. “With extreme weather events occurring more severely and frequently in Canada due to climate change, it is important to have an adaptive regulatory system that responds to […] Read more


A 3-D illustration of Bacillus anthracis bacteria. (Dr_Microbe/iStock/Getty Images)

Anthrax kills southeastern Saskatchewan sheep

Spores forced up by changes in soil moisture

Reading Time: 2 minutes Dramatic shifts in soil moisture are again bringing anthrax spores to the surface on the Prairies, this time in a southeastern Saskatchewan sheep pasture. Lab results on Wednesday confirmed anthrax as the cause of death of one animal in a flock of sheep in the R.M. of South Qu’Appelle, about 50 km east of Regina, […] Read more

CBOT December 2021 corn (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and September 2021 corn (yellow open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Rain pushes corn to 12 per cent weekly drop

Soybeans, wheat hesitant as dry northern U.S. still a concern

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn futures dipped on Friday, losing 12 per cent for the week as rain and moderate temperatures were expected to boost U.S. Midwest crops. Wheat followed lower, but was propped up by drier conditions across the northern U.S. Plains, while soybeans inched higher on long-term forecasts returning to hot, dry […] Read more


CBOT December 2021 corn (candlesticks) with MGEX, CBOT and K.C. September 2021 wheats (green, yellow and orange lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans, corn fall on cool, wet forecast

Wheat supported by dryness in northern Plains

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures ended lower on Thursday, pressured by cool, rainy forecasts across the U.S. growing belt, though dryness in the upper Midwest continues to threaten developing crops. Corn eased as beneficial rains aided crops entering pollination, while wheat firmed as sparse moisture reached drought-hit spring wheat regions. The most-active soybean […] Read more



CBOT December 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: U.S. Midwest weather in focus for soy, corn

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Soybean and corn futures at the Chicago Board of Trade have seen some wide price moves over the first trading week of July, as a surprisingly bullish acreage report at the end of June was quickly superseded by the weather. “Right now it’s weather; the weather has trumped the bullishness of the June […] Read more

CBOT November 2021 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soy futures rebound on declining crop condition

Forecast rain has eased U.S. corn yield fears

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Wednesday, recouping a portion of heavy losses from a day earlier, as a lower-than-expected U.S. crop rating tempered hopes that rain will improve field conditions. Rains from Friday into next week will offer timely moisture for corn that will be in the key […] Read more


(JohnnyMad/Getty Images)

Hot weather cuts into Canadian mustard crop

Price increases already noted

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canada is looking at another small mustard crop in 2021, which should keep prices well supported for any unpriced crop, as recent heat stress cut into yields. “That was a very rough week,” said Walter Dyck, the Alberta-based general manager with Wisconsin mustard-processor Olds Products, on the late June/early July heat wave that […] Read more

File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Saskatchewan crops fight off record heat

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The “heat dome” which enveloped Western Canada last week delivered a blow to Saskatchewan’s pulse crops. Thirty-four temperature records were shattered on Friday, including those at Regina, Prince Albert, Swift Current, Weyburn and Yorkton. Saskatoon and Lucky Lake, northeast of Swift Current, were the province’s hot spots that day at 40 C. Nine […] Read more