Curtis Miedema

Beekeepers got knocked down but they got up again

Reading Time: 3 minutes Despite many tribulations, beekeepers are optimistic about getting a good honey crop this year After two terrible, no-good, very bad years, Alberta’s beekeepers are feeling a little more optimistic. Poor weather severely reduced production in 2019, then came high overwintering losses, then the pandemic brought a maelstrom of troubles, and then more bad weather. “Last […] Read more

Canola south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 3, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Canada’s canola acres up from earlier forecast

Wheat acres up; barley, oats, corn revised lower

MarketsFarm –– Canadian farmers seeded more canola in 2021 than originally intended, with a number of other crops also seeing adjustments higher as dry weather through the planting season allowed for a fast seeding pace. In its June estimates of principal field crop areas, released Tuesday, Statistics Canada pegged total canola planted area at 22.5 […] Read more


CBOT December 2021 corn with 20- and 100-day moving averages (blue and dark green lines) and MGEX, CBOT and K.C. September 2021  wheats (black, yellow and orange lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: CBOT corn, soy, wheat rally as hot forecasts trump rains

MGEX September wheat also climbs

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn, soybeans and wheat rallied on Monday, with traders focused on forecasts for heat in the western U.S. Midwest that will quickly dry out soils in major production areas. “The forward forecasts have the heat that is presently over the Pacific Northwest to move over the western […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Drought sends bids higher

U.S. July wheat futures up on week

MarketsFarm — Mounting drought concerns in the spring wheat-growing regions of Canada and the U.S. saw Prairie cash bids post solid gains during the week ended Thursday. Average CWRS (13.5 per cent) wheat prices were up by $18-$21 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola, wheat acres in opposite trends before StatsCan report

'Every commodity was offering options that were profitable'

MarketsFarm — Just days prior to Statistics Canada issuing its latest survey-based crop acreage report on Tuesday next week, analysts are estimating a rise in canola acres at the expense of wheat. “Coming through the winter and towards spring seeding, we were looking at canola prices that were at their highest levels of all time,” […] Read more

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

U.S. grains: Court ruling, rains pressure corn, soy

CBOT wheat down, MGEX spring wheat up

Chicago | Reuters — Corn and soybean futures tumbled on Friday after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling bolstered a bid by small oil refineries seeking exemptions from laws requiring them to blend ethanol or other biofuels into their products, traders said. “Each time the markets start to stabilize, having priced in the latest round of […] Read more


(ThamKC/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. Supreme Court backs refineries in biofuel waiver dispute

Top court overturns ruling against EPA granting waivers

Reuters — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday made it easier for small oil refineries to win exemptions from a federal law requiring increasing levels of ethanol and other renewable fuels to be blended into their products, a major setback for biofuel producers. The justices overturned a lower court decision that had faulted the U.S. […] Read more



CBOT November 2021 soybeans (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and ICE November 2021 canola (yellow line, left column). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybean futures fall after rain

Chicago corn, wheat futures both mixed

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn soybean futures fell on Thursday, pressured by rain in key growing areas of the U.S. Midwest this week, traders said. “I think it is probably confirmation of fairly widespread rain in areas that were in really dire straits,” said Chuck Shelby, president of Risk Management Commodities. […] Read more

ICE July 2021 canola (candlesticks) with 20-day movjng average (green line), ICE November 2021 canola (yellow line) and CBOT July 2021 soybeans (black line, left column). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Weather, carryout support canola

MarketsFarm — As higher-than-normal temperatures become almost a weekly occurrence in Western Canada amidst tightening carryout stocks, canola seems primed for another extended rally. Despite rains in Western Canada over the past three weeks, providing some relief for canola crops and triggering fund liquidation on the markets, carryout remains very low, with warmer temperatures exacerbating […] Read more