MarketsFarm – Ocean freight rates have dropped significantly over the past month, with declining demand out of China behind much of the weakness. The Baltic Dry Index (BDI), which is a major indicator of shipping rates, settled at 3,187 points on Nov. 2, marking its lowest level in three months and well off the 13-year […] Read more
Baltic Dry Index drops to three-month lows
Team Alberta calls for more action from the provincial government
The four major crop commissions say the government’s message is that producers will have to rely only on crop insurance
Reading Time: 3 minutes Representatives of Alberta’s four major crop commissions, known as Team Alberta, want producers to know their precarious situation hasn’t been forgotten. On October 13 Team Alberta issued a memo to producers outlining how it “continues to press the provincial government to acknowledge the ongoing situation and find solutions to protect farmers against the mounting risks […] Read more
U.S., UAE lead $4-bln effort to help farming adapt to climate change
Johannesburg | Reuters – The United States and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday used COP26 climate talks to launch efforts to channel funding into making agriculture resilient to climate change, as well as to cut its emissions. The farming industry, a major part of the U.S. economy, is already battling the effects of climate change, including […] Read more
QUIET REVOLUTION: Genomics takes wheat breeding into new era
Having a set of complete genomes unlocks the door to wheat’s vast and vastly useful genetic richness
Reading Time: 5 minutes It may not have seemed like a big deal when researchers announced they had sequenced the genomes of a bunch of wheat varieties. But it was big news for wheat midge — as well as other pests and diseases such as stripe rust and fusarium head blight. That’s because it should greatly speed up the […] Read more
Canada economy seen weaker than expected as supply chain woes weigh
Ottawa | Reuters – The Canadian economy most likely underperformed expectations in the third quarter amid ongoing supply chain woes and a brutal drought, official data suggested on Friday, prompting analysts to forecast the Bank of Canada could move slower on rate hikes. The economy expanded by 0.4 percent in August, missing estimates, and looked […] Read more
We’ve planted some digital seeds in the fields of journalism
Reading Time: 3 minutes When farmers plant a seed, it becomes many. It is the purest form of wealth creation. It also takes many to cover even a fraction of the stories that could be done on seeds, and how humans develop, improve, preserve, and understand them. Over the past few months, more than two dozen journalists from across […] Read more
What happens when the big fish eat all the smaller ones?
Big farms want more land but they also need smaller farms to buy their used equipment
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Large farms in Canada continue to grow at the expense of small and medium-size ones — and at an accelerating pace, says a new report. The reality is that any talk of “the ‘average’ farm is all but meaningless,” says one of its authors. “Today, increasing average farm size is not due […] Read more
Britain, New Zealand strike free trade deal
London/Wellington | Reuters — Britain and New Zealand have reached agreement in principle on a free trade deal designed to reduce tariffs, improve services trade, and take London one step closer to membership in a broader trans-Pacific trade agreement. Prime ministers Boris Johnson and Jacinda Ardern sealed the deal in a Zoom call on Wednesday […] Read more
‘Containergeddon’ drives sugar, rice shippers back to bulk vessels
New York | Reuters — Food traders are switching from containers back to dry bulk vessels to transport refined sugar and rice, hoping to avoid shipping delays caused by container shortages and port congestion the industry is calling “containergeddon,” according to traders. Container-based transportation has been hit by sky-high costs and delays amid booming shipping […] Read more
New vet school dean brings a lot of expertise — and an entourage
Reading Time: 4 minutes The new dean of the University of Calgary’s vet school arrived with a lot of new ideas — and two dogs, an Icelandic horse, a donkey, a pony, four children and one husband. “They are family members,” Renate Weller said of the four-legged emigrés. “We have had the donkey and his two companion ponies for […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
