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Major grocery chains agree to help stabilize prices, feds say

Any moves must not undercut farmgate prices, government warns

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s five major grocery chains have agreed to help the government in its bid to stabilize soaring prices, a senior minister said on Monday, following talks to address an issue that is hurting the ruling Liberals. Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne made the announcement after two hours of what he said were […] Read more


File photo of the produce section at a Canadian grocery store. (FatCamera/E+/Getty Images)

Trudeau summons top grocers over rising food prices

Major grocers' level of profit 'does not make sense,' PM says

Ottawa | Reuters — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday said he had summoned the country’s top grocers to help find solution to the surging food prices and vowed to cut federal taxes on new rental buildings, as he fights an affordability crisis that has dented his party’s opinion poll ratings. After meeting with Liberal […] Read more

File photo of the produce section at a Canadian grocery store. (FatCamera/E+/Getty Images)

Canada retools inflation baskets with more focus on food, gas

Snowblowers and barbecues in, DVD players out

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s national statistics agency on Tuesday revealed new weights for the basket of goods and services in its Consumer Price Index, giving more prominence to changes in the prices of food and gasoline. The reweighting, which Statistics Canada carries out every year, has historically had only a marginal impact on the […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

FCC offers new credit line against ‘current economic environment’

Ag lender to waive loan processing fees

Farm Credit Canada’s recent outreach to specific agrifood sectors hit by unusual environmental conditions has now extended to those hit by the broader “economic environment.” The federal ag lender on Tuesday said it will offer an unsecured credit line of up to $500,000 with loan processing fees waived, “to help producers, agribusinesses and agri-food operations […] Read more

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Feds lock in higher interest-free portion on cash advances

Budget boost in effect as of Monday

A further temporary increase to the interest-free chunk of cash advances available to Canadian farmers, as telegraphed in March’s federal budget, has now gone live. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau confirmed Wednesday that the interest-free limit under the Advance Payments Program (APP) for the 2023 program year is now $350,000, effective Monday (May 8). The regulatory […] Read more


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Drought curtails Argentina’s latest ‘soy dollar’ scheme

Soy supply 'a very different situation' now

Buenos Aires | Reuters — Farmers participating in Argentina’s “soy dollar” plan to boost exports have traded less than half of the soybeans they had traded at the same point during the previous plan, due to the impact of a drought, the Rosario grains exchange said on Friday. The Argentina government launched its latest “soy […] Read more

FCC estimates that nine to 15 per cent of farmland purchases are by businesses, investors or others who don’t intend to farm themselves.

Farmland is selling, but who’s paying the higher prices?

‘Non-traditional’ farmland buyers help drive up prices, highlighting tight land supplies across Canada

Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmland prices continue to rise across Canada, but who’s paying them? Not only farmers, says Farm Credit Canada’s chief economist. “We think there’s between nine to 15 per cent of (farmland) transactions that are purchases made by non-traditional buyers. That’s significant,” J.P. Gervais told an online news conference last month. Who are these non-traditional buyers? […] Read more


File photo of signage outside Maple Leaf Foods’ Lagimodiere Boulevard plant in Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

Maple Leaf sees ‘inflection point’ beyond red ink of 2022

Packer books net losses in Q4, full-year

Another of Canada’s major pork and poultry packers has reported significant net losses in its 2022 ledger, but sees “green shoots” suggesting a return to normal pork markets and stable supply chains this year. Maple Leaf Foods on Thursday reported a net loss of $311.89 million on $4.739 billion in gross sales for its fiscal […] Read more

CBOT March 2023 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average and November 2023 soybeans (dark green o/h/l/c). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans end higher in choppy trade

CBOT corn mixed, wheat down; MGEX, K.C. wheats up

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures inched higher on Thursday while corn ended narrowly mixed after a choppy session as traders weighed poor crop prospects in Argentina against the expanding harvest of a massive Brazilian soybean crop and fears of rising interest rates, analysts said. Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures fell on […] Read more