(FIle photo by Allan Dawson)

U.S. grains: Corn tops two-month high

Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. corn futures climbed to their highest in more than two months on Tuesday as traders predicted the U.S. will cut its production estimate in a crop report due out Friday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in the monthly report, may reduce its estimates for the average corn yield and for […] Read more



(USDA.gov via Flickr)

U.S. grains: Prices rise on technicals, positioning before reports

Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. grain and soybean futures strengthened on Monday as technical buying and positioning ahead of U.S. crop reports overshadowed concerns about poor export demand. Soybean oil neared a two-month high. Traders were adjusting positions in the markets before the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issues reports on crop production, supplies and […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Elections Canada)

Election shifts attention to trade deal as race narrows

Ottawa | Reuters –– Trailing in second place with two weeks left before Canada’s election, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a new trade deal Monday that largely protects the key agricultural voting bloc, putting pressure on opponents who had hoped to have more to attack. Harper touted the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a good deal […] Read more



Speakers at the Farm, Food and Beyond press conference (r to l): Alan Kruszel, OSCIA; Dr. Gord Surgeoner, Sustainable Farm Coalition; John Maaskant, Farm and Food Care Ontario; Robert Cash, the Provision Coalition; Don McCabe, OFA; Scott Graham, Presidents’ Council; and Lorne Small, CFFO. (Ralph Pearce photo)

Pearce: Ontario’s EFP program takes next step

Next year it will have been 25 years since Ontario introduced the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) for farms, and leading up to that anniversary, it’s worth noting more than 38,000 farm families have participated. In spite of some growing pains in the late 1990s, the EFP has grown to provide the Ontario agri-food industry with […] Read more


(Tkeban Jahannes photo courtesy AtlantaGa.gov via Flickr)

Pacific trade ministers extend talks through Saturday

Atlanta | Reuters — Pacific trade ministers are extending talks on a free trade deal between a dozen nations through Saturday in a bid to reach a final agreement, representatives from Japan and Mexico said Thursday. Japanese Economy Minister Akira Amari said the extension on Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks in Atlanta showed ministers thought there […] Read more