(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola crop expectations vary ahead of StatsCan report

MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada is due to publish its first production estimates for Canada’s 2020 growing season on Monday (Aug. 31). Late-season hot temperatures and a lack of rain may cause Canada’s canola production to be lower than originally expected, according to some market participants. Earlier in the growing season, Winnipeg-based FarmLink Agriculture Solutions published […] Read more

Durum and lentils bright spots as demand picks up

International buyers have been looking to Canada for both supply and high quality

Reading Time: 3 minutes A lot of things have been bad in 2020, but there have been a few good things. Durum and pulses prices fall in the good column. Poor prices in 2018 led to a drop in durum acreage last year, said Geoff Backman, manager of business development and markets for Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley. Italy’s […] Read more


Among its other uses, wheat gluten goes into the making of plant-based meat analogues. (Romualdo Crissi/iStock/Getty Images)

Feds to probe complaints of wheat gluten dumping

New duties on six countries' gluten imports might follow

Federal officials are launching a probe into whether wheat gluten from six countries is being dumped in Canada at prices undercutting the domestic product. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said Friday it’s launching an investigation to determine whether “certain wheat gluten” from Australia, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Lithuania is being sold at “unfair […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

McDonald’s resuming all-Canadian beef supply

'Supply adjustment' ends next month, company says

Updated, Aug. 18 — McDonald’s Canada’s pandemic-related “supply adjustment,” in which the burger chain cut its Canadian beef purchases to below 100 per cent, is set to end next month. The Canadian arm of the U.S. fast food giant announced Thursday it will resume its pre-pandemic policy of sourcing 100 per cent Canadian beef, starting […] Read more


Plants at Delta 9 Cannabis’ indoor production facility in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Cannabis industry readies for M+A after COVID-19 boosts weed demand

Companies betting on U.S. market growth after election

Reuters — After nearly a year of next-to-no dealmaking, cannabis companies are gearing up for mergers and acquisitions (M+A) as realistic stock valuations and the prospect of U.S. legalization attract buyers to a sector that has been decimated by oversupply and other issues, executives and investors say. Profitable cannabis companies want to buy their way […] Read more

A general view of damage at the site of Tuesday’s blast in Beirut’s port area on Aug. 5, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Azakir)

North American ammonium nitrate laws best in world, Nutrien CEO says

Winnipeg | Reuters — North America’s regulations for handling ammonium nitrate, a potentially explosive product used in fertilizer and in the mining industry, are the strictest in the world, the CEO of Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien said Tuesday. An ammonium nitrate stockpile exploded last week in Beirut killing at least 171 people, injuring 6,000 and […] Read more


CBOT November 2020 soybeans with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans up with exports, corn up slightly on dry weather

Big expected Russian, Canadian crops weaken wheat

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures rose on Monday as a spate of new-crop soybean export sales eased concerns about forecasts of huge harvests across the U.S. Midwest. Corn futures were buoyed by dryness in top corn-producing states, as weekend rainfall missed drought-stricken parts of western Iowa. Meanwhile, wheat futures slipped on estimates for […] Read more

File photo of a cooking oil bottling line in Spain. (Sabor de España/iStock/Getty Images)

Canadian canola prices spike as shippers find back door to China

'Profits are extravagant... It is like gold oil now'

Winnipeg/Beijing | Reuters — Canadian canola prices have soared to the highest in nearly two years, despite a diplomatic dispute between Ottawa and Beijing, as exporters find roundabout ways to reach top oilseed buyer China. Chinese authorities have since March 2019 blocked canola shipments by two Canadian exporters, an action they took after Canadian police […] Read more


CBOT November 2020 soybeans with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Bearish supply outlooks spark selling in corn, soy, wheat

Wheat outlooks in Canada, Russia, Australia bearish

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell for the fourth day in a row to their lowest since June 30 as expectations kept building that growing supplies will outstrip demand even as top buyer China steps up its purchases, traders said. A bearish supply outlook also pressured wheat futures, which dropped to a one-month […] Read more

KFC Canada says it will launch its ‘Plant-Based KFC’ sandwich nationwide Aug. 10. (CNW Group/KFC Canada)

Plant-based near-chicken on KFC’s Canadian menu to stay

Maple Leaf's Lightlife arm to make 'Plant-Based KFC' sandwich

Updated, Aug. 18: Consumers’ response to a single-day test of plant-based near-chicken menu items in Mississauga last year has led KFC Canada to add the product, full time, to its menu nationwide. The Canadian arm of the Yum Brands-owned chicken chain announced Wednesday its ‘Plant-Based KFC’ sandwiches will be available permanently at its stores across […] Read more