The planting season always seems that much closer when the first meeting of extension staff with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and local retailers and advisers is held. It provides a first glimpse of the region’s wheat crop as it comes out of dormancy, and an assessment of local field activity, including planting […]

CNS Canada – Stable prices, generally good growing conditions and a mediocre harvest in Argentina have industry officials smiling at the prospects for this season’s Prairie sunflower crop. In late March, reports surfaced that some parts of Argentina were slightly damaged from dry weather late last year. The country is traditionally one of the world’s […]

CNS Canada – Most winter wheat crops seeded in Western Canada last fall seem to be in good condition so far this spring — but they’re not in the clear yet. “Not all of the winter wheat is out from the snow cover yet,” said Bruce Burnett, crop and weather specialist with CWB in Winnipeg. […]

Chicago | Reuters – U.S. soybean futures rose 1.7 per cent on Tuesday on signs that domestic processors kept their plants running at high levels even as supplies dwindled, traders said. Wheat futures gained 3.4 per cent, surging through the US$7-a-bushel level, on fears that escalating political tensions in Ukraine would disrupt shipments of the […]

CNS Canada – Temperatures are expected to continue to be colder than normal for much of agricultural Western Canada this week. A smaller disturbance will be moving through Alberta and into parts of western and southern Saskatchewan, according to Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. in Kansas City. “It will be kind of similar to […]

CNS Canada – U.S. wheat futures rose sharply on Monday and could continue to increase due to cold weather in the southern Plains and the political unrest in Ukraine. “We had this (cold) in the weather forecast,” said Austin Damiani, a U.S. wheat analyst from Frontier Futures in Minneapolis. “The forecasts are calling for even […]

Chicago | Reuters – U.S. wheat futures surged nearly three per cent on Monday as traders responded to fresh tensions in the Black Sea region, coupled with the threat of freeze damage to crops in the U.S. Plains. Corn and soybeans followed wheat higher, with corn buoyed by strong weekly export inspections data. At the […]

Organizers of the sixth World Conference on Conservation Agriculture (WCCA) have extended its early registration deadline to May 1. WCCA will take place June 22-25 in Winnipeg, the conference’s first-ever North American venue. The conference is meant to promote the sharing of knowledge about sustainable agriculture with the intent of catalyzing change in practices and […]

CNS Canada – Cool temperatures and overall wet conditions should make it tough for most insects and other pests to get an early toehold on Prairie crops, according to three insect specialists across Western Canada. Wheat midge, cabbage seedpod weevils, flea beetles and grasshoppers are some of the early exceptions, however, as they have been […]

One of the Prairies’ top experts in stored grain’s circle of life is warning farmers to get piled or bagged crops up off the ground before next month. Last fall’s bumper harvest and this winter’s grain rail freight backlog have together left Prairie farmers without sufficient bin space storing crops in Silobags or Quonsets or […]