Yevgen Mykhaylichenko says “No matter where you are, all you need is high-speed internet, clever people, smart students and desire to go further with these systems.”

From Olds to the front lines of Ukraine

College instructor splits time between precision agriculture education in Canada and supporting troops in his home country

Reading Time: 3 minutes Yevgen Mykhaylichenko is trying to bring more autonomous systems to Canadian agriculture, and he’s using knowledge acquired abroad to do it. Splitting his time between academia and the Ukrainian front line, the Ukrainian professor and Olds College technology integration specialist works with a wide range of digital technologies and hardware. On frequent visits to Ukraine, […] Read more



Photo: Reuters/Ben Nelms/File

IGC raises world crop projections

If realized, the world wheat crop will the second largest on record

Projected worldwide wheat, corn and soybean production in 2023/24 was raised by the International Grains Council in its latest update, with better-than-expected corn yields in the United States and larger Black Sea wheat crops behind the adjustment.

Nutrien’s head office building in Saskatoon. (Liam O’Connor photo)

Nutrien misses quarterly profit estimates as potash prices plummet

Fertilizer demand expected to rise in Q4

Reuters — Nutrien fell short of analysts’ estimates for third-quarter profit on Wednesday, as lower potash prices weighed on the world’s biggest fertilizer producer. Potash prices have been falling after shipments from Belarus and Russia resumed. These exports had been significantly restricted last year following Western sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion […] Read more


IGC raises forecast for 2023-24 world wheat crop

IGC raises forecast for 2023-24 world wheat crop

U.S., Russian and Ukrainian production seen up, Australia down

Reading Time: < 1 minute The International Grains Council has raised its forecast for global wheat production in the 2023-24 season with upward revisions for Ukraine, Russia and the United States outweighing a deteriorating outlook for the crop in Australia. The inter-governmental body’s monthly update put the global wheat crop at 785 million tonnes, up from a previous forecast of […] Read more

Market sources say Russian wheat is being regularly offered for sale well below reported floor levels.

Why are Russian export prices roiling the wheat market?

Dissecting the factors around Russia’s grain movement and its impact on global markets

Reading Time: 3 minutes Russian wheat offers at a recent import tender by Egypt were all made at the same price, highlighting what traders classify as behind-the-scenes intervention by Russia’s government that is sowing confusion about the world’s biggest wheat-exporting country. Here is a more detailed look at what is happening: Russian policy In March, sources told Reuters that […] Read more


The FAO has forecast world cereal production at 2.819 billion tonnes in 2023.

September world food price index little changed

Food prices seem to be finding new stability after Ukraine invasion sent them skyrocketing

Reading Time: 2 minutes The United Nations food agency’s world price index was largely stable in September, as declines in the indices for vegetable oils, dairy and meat offset a surge in sugar and maize prices. The Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) price index, which tracks the most globally traded food commodities, averaged 121.5 points last month against a […] Read more

A seaport grain terminal damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes in Odesa region, Ukraine on July 19, 2023. (Photo: Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry via Facebook/Handout via Reuters)

Russia destroyed 300,000 tonnes of grain since July in attacks, Kyiv says

Port damage cuts export potential 40 per cent, deputy PM says

Kyiv | Reuters — Russia has destroyed almost 300,000 metric tonnes of grain since July in attacks on Ukraine’s port facilities and on ships, the Ukrainian government said on Friday, underscoring the war’s threat to global food security. In summer, Moscow quit a U.N.-brokered deal that had allowed exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black […] Read more


File photo of barley being unloaded at a grain terminal in Ukraine on June 23, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Igor Tkachenko)

U.N. held talks in Russia on Monday on grain, fertilizer exports

'Unimpeded access' sought for Ukrainian, Russian grain

United Nations | Reuters — Top United Nations trade official Rebeca Grynspan met with Russian officials in Moscow on Monday for talks aimed at enabling the “unimpeded access” to global markets for grain and fertilizer from Russia and Ukraine, a U.N. spokesperson said. U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths also attended the meetings virtually, U.N. spokesperson […] Read more

Liberia-flagged bulker K Sukret, carrying grain under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, waits for inspection in the southern anchorage of Istanbul on May 17, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Mehmet Emin Caliskan)

Britain says Russia may target civilian shipping with mines in Black Sea

Intel suggests goal is to deter Ukraine grain exports, Britain says

London | Reuters — Russia may use sea mines to target civilian shipping in the Black Sea, including by laying them on the approach to Ukrainian ports, the British government said on Wednesday citing intelligence. Russia in July pulled out of a deal that had allowed Ukraine to safely ship food products out through what […] Read more