Reuters — Chicago wheat climbed on Tuesday to add to sharp gains a day earlier as the market assessed the risk of yield losses to U.S. crops due to a combination of dry and cold weather. Corn finished stronger and touched a nearly two-month high, with traders digesting news that China is to scrap its […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat extends gains on dry, chilly weather

China delays implementing Canadian canola standard
Winnipeg | Reuters –– China has delayed implementing a tougher standard on Canadian canola shipments, just days before it was to take effect, as a result of talks between the two countries, a Chinese government spokesperson said. China’s new standard for foreign material in canola shipments will take effect Sept. 1 instead of April 1, […] Read more

China, Canada in talks as tougher canola standard nears
Winnipeg | Reuters –– Canada and China are in talks about Beijing’s plans to toughen its standard on Canadian canola imports, an industry official said on Monday, just days before the change takes effect. China’s quarantine authority, AQSIQ, notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) last month that it would allow no more than one […] Read more

Foreign worker break for seafood sector a ‘one-time’ deal
Winnipeg | Reuters –– Canada’s move to loosen restrictions on hiring foreign workers for East Coast seafood plants was a one-time decision, and the government is not convinced other sectors need similar measures, the country’s employment minister said Thursday. The Liberal government eased restrictions under its foreign worker program recently for Atlantic seafood processors, allowing […] Read more

India backstops first phase of Sask. potash mine
Winnipeg | Reuters — India’s Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals has agreed to guarantee payments on US$700 million in debt to finance the first phase of Karnalyte Resources’ Saskatchewan potash mine project, Karnalyte said Monday, adding supply even as other miners cut production. Under the deal, a subsidiary of State Bank of India and other […] Read more

Canada presses China on science in canola trade spat
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is urging the Chinese government to stick to scientific facts in decisions on trade as Beijing plans to toughen its standard on Canadian canola shipments, federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay said Thursday. China’s quarantine authority, AQSIQ, notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last month that it would allow no more […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans surge on short-covering, export demand
Winnipeg/Reuters – U.S. soybean futures jumped nearly 2 per cent on Friday as investors covered short positions due to strong export demand, registering their biggest weekly gain since mid-December. Chicago wheat edged higher, and registered a big weekly gain on concerns over dry weather in parts of the U.S. Plains. Corn also climbed, on strong […] Read more

Paterson taps brakes on China canola sales
Winnipeg | Reuters — Crop handler Paterson Grain will take a more cautious approach to selling canola to Chinese buyers for the near term, after China said it would toughen its standard on canola shipments from Canada, the CEO of parent Paterson GlobalFoods said. China’s quarantine authority, AQSIQ, told Ottawa last week it would allow […] Read more

Farmers return to vegetable patch as currency slumps
Reuters — Canadian farmers are cashing in on the highest vegetable prices in years, helped by the country’s weak currency and soaring costs of U.S. imports that have made them unexpected winners in a bearish commodity world. Soft wheat and canola prices may diminish Canadian farm incomes by nine per cent this year. But it […] Read more

Blackleg, big stocks seen behind China-Canada canola conflict
Reuters — A “scientific disagreement” between Canada and China over the risk of transmitting the blackleg fungus is behind China’s move to raise its standard for Canadian canola imports, an industry official involved in discussions said. But some traders say the real reason for a higher standard that may slow Chinese imports is the country’s […] Read more