Reading Time: 4 minutes Jocelyn Velestuk did a lot of spitting the first time she met her future father-in-law. It made a lasting impression. As she describes it, Velestuk and her then fiancé and his father were touring around the farm she would soon marry into. Being a soil scientist, Velestuk scooped up handfuls of topsoil here and there, […] Read more
A giant leap for soil kind
Soil-health advocates like Jocelyn Velestuk look forward to new technology to help make better decisions to improve both soil health and whole-farm profitability
ICE weekly outlook: Canola headed down, looking for spark
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were up and down during the week ended Wednesday, with the bias turning lower as losses in outside markets weighed on values. Canola lost $10 in two days, with a slide in soyoil and crude oil futures behind some of the spillover weakness. “We’re not getting any […] Read more
Soybeans elbow their way to top of Prairie market
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — As soybeans rise in acreage across Western Canada, many are wondering which crop will bear the brunt of their sudden expansion. “Guys are trying to figure out — is it squeezing out canola or peas?” said Dan Mazier, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers. “It’s one of those products.” Flax has also taken […] Read more
Growing professional
Across the country, young farmers like Holly White and Kent Sereda are building respect for a new generation of business skills
Reading Time: 9 minutes Newlyweds Holly White and Kent Sereda were already quite good at tackling what you might call their legal due diligence, updating their wills and preparing marital agreements. Then they realized they should go even further. This was the right time, they decided, to review the whole succession plan for the fourth-generation family farm that they […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola looks to stay below $500
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts are facing some bearish weather conditions as more rain is expected to fall across parched regions of the Prairies. During the week ended Wednesday, most canola contracts posted losses. The dominant November contract fell $7.80, to $489.60. The lone exception was the nearby July contract, which eked […] Read more
‘Insurance’ spraying
A new study says most farmers can generate more profit by cutting back on crop protection. But wait… is it really that simple?
Reading Time: 5 minutes Today, we all recognize “recreational tillage” as a phrase we use to criticize farmers who haven’t been paying attention to how we’ve learned that we can put an end to a lot of excessive tillage, thereby reducing soil erosion, fuel and equipment costs, and manpower requirements. But now we need to ask: Is “recreational spraying” […] Read more
Syngenta exits canola seed business
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canola growers checking out Syngenta Canada’s 2018 seed guide for Western Canada will notice canola by its absence. Syngenta, which entered the Prairie canola seed market in 2013 and by this spring had six hybrid varieties on offer, said in a statement it has “recently taken the decision to exit the canola seed business.” The […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Uncertainty to underpin canola in short term
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola futures advanced on the week and are likely to keep near-term support, one analyst says, as traders mull over the question: Just how much canola is out there? “There’s still a lot of uncertainty about canola numbers; we’re still not certain about how big the last crop was; […] Read more
Parched soils threaten canola, spring wheat
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s western farm belt, dogged by excessive rain in some areas this spring, is now facing parched conditions in others, threatening wheat and canola crops, crop analysts say. A large area of southern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba has received less than 40 per cent of normal precipitation during the 30-day period […] Read more
Visible canola stocks tightest in nearly three years
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada –– Canola supplies in commercial hands in Canada dropped to their tightest level in nearly three years, according to the latest data from the Canadian Grain Commission for the week ended Sunday. Visible canola supplies, at 702,700, are down from the already tight level of 830,200 tonnes posted the previous week and represent […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
