CBOT July 2023 soft red winter wheat with 50-day moving average, Minneapolis July 2023 hard red spring wheat (yellow line) and K.C. July 2023 hard red winter wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago wheat, corn hit fresh lows

Export competition, China cancellations drag on futures

Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures fell for a seventh straight session on Thursday and touched a 21-month low on export competition while corn hit a nine-month low, walloped by cancellations of U.S. corn sales to China. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) dropped 12-3/4 cents to settle […] Read more

File photo of a southern Alberta field as spring approaches. (BrendanHunter/iStock/Getty Images)

Prairie soil moisture picture growing clearer

Alberta driest; Saskatchewan variable; Manitoba mostly OK

It’s a variable soil moisture picture on the Prairies as seeding season draws nearer. The east has enough moisture — and in some cases too much. And it gets progressively drier toward the west, with portions of Alberta nearing critical condition, according to one weather watcher. Bruce Burnett, weather and markets director for the MarketsFarm […] Read more


The skeleton of a fish is seen in the Navarro lagoon, which dried up due to the climate phenomenon La Nina, in Navarro in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province on Dec. 5, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Agustin Marcarian)

Storms to bring rain to parched Argentine fields next week, grains exchange says

Drought has limited soy, corn planting

Reuters — A storm front should bring moderate to abundant rainfall across most of Argentina’s key agricultural area over the next week, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Thursday, which could help farmers plant their fields after a historic drought. Lack of rainfall in Argentina, the world’s largest exporter of soybean oil and meal […] Read more

A submerged and abandoned car is seen in floodwaters near a vineyard after winter storms at Forestville, California on Jan. 13, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

California rainstorms fade as death toll reaches 20

Drought to remain an issue for much of state

Reuters — The parade of atmospheric rivers that pounded California for three weeks finally faded on Monday, enabling the state to begin lengthy repairs to roads and levees as the White House announced U.S. President Joe Biden planned to survey the damage. The nine consecutive rainstorms that inundated California in succession since Dec. 26 killed […] Read more


A drone’s-eye view of crews repairing a levee, north of the Cosumnes River, after it was breached by heavy rains and flooded Sacramento County roads and properties near Wilton, just southeast of Sacramento, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Fred Greaves)

Another ‘atmospheric river’ storm renews flood threat in California

Sacramento | Reuters — Emergency crews braced for the next bout of high winds and torrential rains forecast to sweep California starting on Wednesday, renewing the threat of power outages and flooding that struck parts of the state over the New Year’s weekend. The latest “atmospheric river” — an airborne current of dense moisture flowing […] Read more

File photo of wheat south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2022. (Dave Bedard photo)

Prairies’ high-pressure ridge should give way by mid-month

Brisk harvest pace expected meanwhile

MarketsFarm — While there’s not one specific cause of the hot September the Canadian Prairies has generally been having so far, Weatherlogics chief scientist Scott Kehler notes one particular shorter-term factor. “There is a fairly strong upper-level ridge of high pressure across the Prairies right now,” he explained, adding it should dissipate by mid-month. The […] Read more


CBOT November 2022 soybeans (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans steady

U.S. Midwest rain, Ukraine sea exports add pressure

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybeans inched higher on Wednesday, bouncing from two days of declines, though the recovery was limited by rain improving weather forecasts in the U.S. Midwest. Wheat prices fell, pressured by increased export activity from Ukraine, while corn traded near even. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade […] Read more



Photo: Getty Images

Heavy rain — where does all that water come from?

When a thunderstorm rolls in on a warm summer day, there’s an awful lot of water over your head

Reading Time: 3 minutes In the last issue we went into some detail on how thunderstorms develop, and how they can go from your average summer day thunderstorm to a severe thunderstorm. Thunderstorms can bring a wide variety of severe weather with them: heavy rains, hail, high winds, lightning, and, on some occasions, tornadoes. After an extended period of […] Read more

File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Peas, lentils faring well but threats remain

MarketsFarm — Growing conditions for peas and lentils in Saskatchewan during the spring can be described as variable. While western parts of the province continued to endure dry conditions carried over from last year’s drought, regions in the east were drenched with near-continuous rainfall to go along with below-normal temperatures. Lionel Ector, president of Diefenbaker […] Read more