Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — There’s a possibility the government of India could lower its import duties on pulses, including those from Canada, according to reports. With India’s monsoon rains having continued longer than usual, production of the country’s kharif (summer) pulse production fell by almost two million tonnes. Prior to the monsoons, market expectations called for 10.1 […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Drop in India’s production may lead to lower duties
NFU paper lays out solutions for climate, farming challenges
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The global climate crisis is interlinked with the financial crisis on Canadian farms, according to a new discussion paper from the National Farmers Union (NFU). The paper proposes changes to agriculture practices that could help the sector become part of the solution to both major issues. Compiled by Darrin Qualman in collaboration with […] Read more
Maple Leaf lands ‘sustainability-linked’ credit
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian food processor Maple Leaf Foods is taking its recently-established sustainability cred to the bank. The Toronto food firm announced Wednesday it’s the first Canadian company to secure “sustainability-linked terms” for its credit facilities. Specifically, the company has picked up an unsecured committed revolving line of credit and two unsecured committed term facilities for a […] Read more
Field monitoring systems to cast wider Canadian net
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farmers will soon get a new entry point in the Internet of Things (IoT) as a new company brings field monitoring tools and services to the Canadian market. Austrian tech firm Pessl Instruments and Winnipeg-based Glacier FarmMedia, the owner of this website, on Wednesday announced a new joint venture, Metos Canada, to market and support […] Read more
StatsCan shows corn, soy output down across board
Reading Time: 2 minutes Despite increases in Ontario’s harvested acres for both soybeans and corn, the province’s production of both crops in 2019 followed the rest of Canada’s lower in Statistics Canada’s latest estimates. StatsCan’s November estimates for production of principal field crops, released Friday, dropped Canada’s production of soybeans to six million tonnes, down 18.5 per cent from […] Read more
StatsCan report puts canola production at lowest since 2015
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Data from Statistics Canada’s production of principal field crops report, released Friday morning, will likely be supportive of canola values, put pressure on barley, and keep wheat prices steady. In the report, canola production across Canada decreased by 8.3 per cent nationally to 18.6 million tonnes, compared to 2018 production volumes. The decreased […] Read more
Canadians to spend more on food in 2020, report predicts
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canadians will spend two to four per cent more on food in 2020, according to the latest Canada Food Price Report from researchers at Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab and the University of Guelph. The average family in the country will see its total food bill for groceries and restaurant meals rise by […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle touch seven-month peak on weather woes
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures closed higher on Tuesday, recording a seven-month high on expectations that a winter storm this week would slow the movement of cattle to beef packing plants and possibly curb the ability of feedlot cattle to gain weight, traders said. A powerful snowstorm swept across Colorado and into […] Read more
CN strike drags on, hitting grain exports, fertilizer output
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ottawa/Montreal | Reuters — A prolonged strike at Canadian National Railway, the country’s largest railroad, sent further shocks through the economy on Monday with grain shipments scuttled and layoffs planned at fertilizer producers and an auto shipment terminal. As Canada’s biggest rail strike in a decade entered its seventh day, industry kept pressuring the government […] Read more
Union says propane shortfalls may be CN’s own making
Reading Time: 2 minutes Propane shortages for grain dryers and heating fuel in the wake of a strike by Canadian National Railway (CN) conductors and yard workers appear to be “largely manufactured” by the railway, according to the union for the striking workers. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC-CTY), which represents over 3,000 CN staff in Canada who walked […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
