“It has to be family, farm and then commission work. Those should be your priorities at
all times.”

Don’t fear involvement in ag groups, say commission reps

There are more benefits than losses when you nominate yourself for a board

Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s election season for many of Alberta’s farm organizations but it can feel like pulling teeth to get farmers involved, say representatives of grower groups. The positions are not necessarily as time-consuming as farmers may think because there are many people to help and in many cases work-life balance is prioritized. “It has to be […] Read more



(Glacier FarmMedia staff photo)

Legislation allows Quebec’s UPA to rework funding formula

Bill 28 passes Quebec assembly

Quebec’s legislative assembly has passed a bill allowing the province’s overarching general farm organization, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), to start the process toward a new funding model. Provincial Agriculture Minister Andre Lamontagne on Thursday announced the passage of Bill 28, which amends legislation governing organization of farming activities and the accreditation of UPA. […] Read more

CBOT January 2024 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago soy soars on Chinese buying, Brazilian weather

Corn futures rise on U.S. sales to Mexico

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures sharply rallied on Monday on Chinese demand and scorching heat in Brazil, where farmers are expected to face crop-stressing temperatures over the next several days. Meanwhile, corn futures rose on technical trading and support from news of Mexico buying U.S. grain — a move up that also gave […] Read more


CBOT December 2023 corn with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago corn slumps on forecast for record-large crop

Crude oil recovery lends some support to grains

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago corn futures posted a third straight weekly decline on Friday, as traders reacted to a government forecast that U.S. farmers will produce a record-large crop this year. Wheat was lower, following corn. Commodity funds hold a sizeable net short position in Chicago wheat futures, leaving the market prone to volatility […] Read more

Today’s bins can hold more than 10 times the volume of structures a generation ago, but with this capacity comes challenges to keep grain in good condition.

Storage strategies change with bigger bins

As storage systems have grown, more attention is needed to keep crops safe

Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – In the 1970s, a standard bin was 14 feet in diameter with a capacity of 1,350 bushels. High rollers might add an extra ring to stretch that another 300 bu. There were bins 19 feet in diameter, with a 2,700 bu. capacity, but few farmers bought them because they were hard to […] Read more


CBOT December 2023 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago grain, soy futures drop after USDA forecasts

China buys over one million tonnes of U.S. soy

Chicago | Reuters — The Chicago Board of Trade’s most-active corn futures plunged sharply on Thursday after the government reported that U.S. farmers will produce the biggest-ever corn crop this year. The report’s forecast topped trade estimates. The most-active CBOT corn contract at one point dipped to $4.66-1/2, the lowest price since Dec. 30, 2020, […] Read more

Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies for the week centred on Nov. 1, 2023, in degrees Celsius. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

El Nino to continue through Northern Hemisphere spring, U.S. forecaster says

Reuters — El Nino weather conditions will continue through the Northern Hemisphere during April-June 2024 with a 62 per cent chance, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. “Above-average sea surface temperatures (SST) across the equatorial Pacific Ocean were indicative of a strong El Nino, with anomalies increasing in the central and east-central Pacific […] Read more


File photo of a partially harvested cornfield in Minnesota. (Emholk/iStock/Getty Images)

USDA’s WASDE report throws a few curveballs

Corn carryover up significantly

MarketsFarm — There were some surprises in the November world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, released Thursday. USDA defied trade expectations when it came to 2023-24 ending stocks of U.S. corn, soybeans, and all wheat, with those being higher. As well, the department came in above what the […] Read more

(Combyne Ag video screengrab via YouTube)

Bayer’s crop marketing, crop production platforms in sync

FieldView, Combyne platforms now integrated

Combyne, the made-in-Canada grain marketing platform Bayer bought earlier this year, is now fully on speaking terms with the company’s Climate FieldView precision ag platform. Bayer on Oct. 30 announced integration of the two platforms, which it said will allow grain farmers in Canada and the U.S. to connect their marketing data in Combyne and […] Read more