China's total grain production reached a record of more than 700 million metric tons in 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday, as Beijing moves to boost output in its quest to achieve food security.

China’s 2024 total grain output rises to record 706 mln tons

Russian grain exports to Syria suspended due to uncertainty
Russian wheat supplies to Syria have been suspended because of uncertainty about the new government and payment delays, Russian and Syrian sources said on Friday, while two vessels carrying Russian wheat for Syria did not reach their destinations.

U.S. grains: Corn, wheat fall as dollar gains, export sales disappoint
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn and wheat futures fell back on Thursday on a stronger dollar following rate cuts by the European Central Bank, technical trading and slower-than-anticipated weekly export sales, according to analysts.

U.S. cattle: CME cattle futures close lower on technical selling
Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell in a technical reversal on Thursday after three days of gains, while lean hogs rebounded from three days of long-liquidation losses, analysts said.

Climate change worries Canadian farmers: poll
Data shows east-west split over climate, cost and government concerns
A poll released Dec. 11 suggests that Canadian farmers worry more about the impacts of climate change than they do about input costs and market prices for canola, corn, wheat and cattle.

Feed grain update: Barley still trending higher
Feed barley prices in Western Canada remain on a steady uptrend, improving by C$30 to C$40 per tonne off their harvest lows hit in late August.

U.S. government not stockpiling bird flu vaccine
While the United States government continues to monitor the spread of bird flu in the country, the Biden administration said it won’t order the stockpiling of a vaccine for humans. U.S. health officials stressed the chances of a human contracting the H5N1 variant of avian influenza remain very low.

Canadian honey production down in 2024
Canadian honey production was down by 18 per cent in 2024 despite an increase in the number of beekeepers and colonies.

Russia bans sunflower, corn seeds imports from four countries
The Russian agricultural watchdog has banned imports of sunflower and corn seeds from companies in Chile, France, Hungary, and Turkey, it said on Thursday, in line with Moscow's policy to reduce dependency on seed imports.

COMMENT: The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is a failure, and new immigration limits make a bad situation worse
Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) was seemingly set up to fail. Multiple successive governments have long passed the buck to the next and still none are willing to fix it.