(CPR.ca)

Farmer interest sought in Saskatchewan commodity hub

Reading Time: 2 minutes A group in southeastern Saskatchewan is gauging farmer support for a proposed new “commodity hub” project that would handle grain and transloading of commodities such as crude oil and fertilizer. An organization dubbed Comtrax Logistics Solutions proposes a $50 million to $75 million project somewhere on Canadian Pacific Railway’s Soo Line, “most likely” in the […] Read more

Ontario Environment Minister Glen Murray spoke about his understanding of agriculture at the recent OFA annual meeting. (John Greig photo)

Greig: Ontario environment minister reaches out to farmers

Reading Time: 3 minutes The Ontario Liberal government appears to be attempting to mend the gap created between the government and rural Ontario. Premier Kathleen Wynne apologized on Nov. 19 to Ontarians for the significant rise in electricity costs, now about the highest in North America. According to media reports she said it was her mistake and her government […] Read more


January 2017 canola, including 20-day moving average and (in separate graph at bottom) RSI, from June through to Nov. 24, 2016. (Barchart.com)

Canola nearing chart resistance

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada –– ICE Futures Canada canola contracts have trended higher for the past two weeks, with a rally in Chicago Board of Trade soyoil providing an added boost on Wednesday. While the nearby technical signals may be pointing higher, canola is also nearing major chart resistance. The January contract closed Thursday at $527.40 per […] Read more

(EC.europa.eu)

CETA clears legal test hurdle in EU parliament

Reading Time: 2 minutes Strasbourg | Reuters –– The planned EU-Canada free trade deal cleared a hurdle to its implementation next year when the European Parliament rejected a motion on Wednesday to ask the top European Union court to rule on its legality. The vote by lawmakers in the parliament is an indication they will also ultimately back the […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

ICE weekly outlook: Traders look to StatsCan, U.S. veg oil

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — With questions about the size of Western Canada’s canola crop remaining, ICE Futures Canada traders are looking to an upcoming Statistics Canada report for indications on where to move next. Sharp advances in the Chicago Board of Trade soyoil market underpinned canola on the week, and investors are waiting to see if […] Read more

Like their mushroom cousins, sclerotinia apothecia like warm and wet. So if your field is dry and cool, can you save the $20+ per acre in spray costs?

To spray or not to spray?

A preventive canola spray for sclerotinia can pay off, but not necessarily for blackleg

Reading Time: 5 minutes Keith Gabert rarely tells Alberta canola producers straight up not to spray fungicide as a preventive against sclerotinia stem rot. But last year, the Canola Council of Canada’s agronomy specialist for central Alberta south did just that. “In the Drumheller area, where they don’t always have as much moisture, they’d sprayed for sclerotinia in the […] Read more


Health Canada is calling for a three- to five-year phase-out of imidacloprid from farm use over potential risks to aquatic insects such as mayflies. (OttawaRiverkeeper.ca)

PMRA seeks phase-out for neonic pesticide imidacloprid

Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian farm use of the pesticide imidacloprid, from the controversial neonicotinoid family, is facing a three- to five-year phase-out from approval over its potential risks to aquatic insects. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) on Wednesday announced it had completed a re-evaluation of the pesticide and has kicked off a 90-day public consultation period, […] Read more

The Big River Resources ethanol plant at West Burlington, Iowa, about 120 km southwest of Davenport. (Steven Vaughn photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. ups biofuel requirements in win for Big Corn

Reading Time: < 1 minute New York | Reuters — The U.S. government on Wednesday announced finalized targets for biofuel use for next year, requiring that energy companies blend 19.28 billion gallons of renewables into the nation’s fuel supply. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a statement set the target for conventional biofuel, or ethanol, at 15 billion gallons and […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Canola crush hits new weekly record

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Canadian canola crushers hit a new weekly record during the second week of November, processing more than 200,000 tonnes of canola for the first time ever. The canola crush during the week ended Wednesday came in at 203,951 tonnes, according to the most recent Canadian Oilseed Processors Association report. The previous record […] Read more

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, in a video released Monday, pledges to serve notice in January of the United States’ withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. (YouTube)

Trump pledges U.S. withdrawal from TPP on ‘day one’

Reading Time: 2 minutes U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to start the United States’ exit from the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal on “day one” of his administration in January. In a video released Monday, Trump said his transition team had been directed to put together “a list of executive actions we can take on day one” […] Read more