Trucks wait for crossing into Poland at the Rava-Ruska border checkpoint in Ukraine’s Lviv region on April 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Roman Baluk)

Bans on Ukrainian grain imports mount as Kyiv seeks transit deal

Poland, Hungary ban imports; Slovakia follows

Kyiv/Rava-Ruska, Ukraine | Reuters — Slovakia on Monday joined Poland and Hungary in banning grain imports from Ukraine as even Kyiv’s staunchest allies come under domestic pressure to shield their agriculture markets. The heat is mounting on Brussels to work out a European Union wide solution after Warsaw and Budapest announced bans on some imports […] Read more

Flags in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. (Inakiantonana/E+/Getty Images)

EU cuts estimate of drought-hit maize crop, raises import outlook

Commission cuts soft wheat exports, raises imports

Paris | Reuters — The European Commission on Friday cut its estimate of this year’s drought-hit maize harvest in the European Union to a new 15-year low while again raising its projection for this season’s maize imports. European maize (corn) crops endured severe drought and several heatwaves during the crucial summer growth period. The Commission […] Read more


CBOT March 2023 soft red winter wheat (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (green line), MGEX March 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. March 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Futures slip on rail strike threat, EU wheat talk

U.S. winter crop ratings at lowest since at least 1986

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade grain futures fell on Tuesday, amid growing concern over a possible U.S. rail strike and market speculation that U.S. grain buyers were purchasing European Union wheat, traders said. French wheat sales to China and the prospect of Polish or German wheat being booked in the United States […] Read more

Cattle producers should have been “big winners” in the trade deal with Europe but the opposite has been true so far, says Dan Darling, who has been representing the cattle sector on this matter for close to a decade.

BROKEN PROMISES: It’s been five years of frustration with EU trade deal

The high hopes sparked by the deal are in tatters as Europe keeps doors largely closed to Canadian beef

Reading Time: 5 minutes Dan Darling remembers the tough slog of negotiations in free-trade talks with Europe — and the hope that they would end with major gains for Canadian beef. But five years after the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with Europe, talks continue and potential benefits remain unrealized. “When we were negotiating the deal, […] Read more



File photo of a docked grain vessel at a Black Sea port in Turkey. (Bfk92/E+/Getty Images)

U.N., Moscow discuss Russian grain, fertilizer exports

Grain not getting to poorer countries, Putin alleges

United Nations | Reuters — Senior U.N. and Russian officials met in Geneva on Wednesday to discuss Russian complaints that Western sanctions were impeding its grain and fertilizer exports despite a U.N.-brokered deal to boost Russian and Ukrainian shipments of the commodities. The United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia agreed on July 22 on what […] Read more


Flags in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. (Inakiantonana/E+/Getty Images)

EU crops to face some challenges in 2022-23

MarketsFarm — Total grain production in the European Union is expected to decrease overall by 2.4 per cent in 2022-23, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture attachés throughout the multi-nation bloc. For the coming crop year, they forecast production to be 286.02 million tonnes of wheat, corn, barley, rye, oats, mixed grains and others. One […] Read more

EU flags in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. (Jorisvo/iStock/Getty Images)

EU’s oilseed yields expected to decline in 2022-23

USDA's attaches predict uptick in EU's oilseed acres

MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) attachés in Europe have projected oilseed production in the 27-member European Union to increase just slightly in 2022-23. The 18 attachés involved in the report expect about 31.07 million tonnes in total, for a 0.4 per cent bump in total oilseed output from 2021-22. The oilseeds included […] Read more


EU flags in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. (Jorisvo/iStock/Getty Images)

EU offers farmers aid, more land to grow due to Ukraine war

Brussels | Reuters — The European Union will distribute 500 million euros (C$692 million) to help farmers and allow them to grow crops on fallow land to mitigate food price spikes and potential shortages resulting from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Published on Wednesday, the proposals by the EU’s executive European Commission also include assistance to […] Read more

EU flags in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. (Jorisvo/iStock/Getty Images)

EU predicts pain for farmers, consumers from Ukraine crisis

Brussels | Reuters — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and EU sanctions on Moscow will prove painful for farmers, consumers, fertilizer makers and exporters of farm products, the European Commission warned on Monday. Michael Scannell, deputy director-general of the Commission’s agriculture division, said grain buyers should brace for higher prices given that Russia and Ukraine made […] Read more