File photo of wheat seedlings. (Volodymyr Shtun/iStock/Getty Images)

StatCan expects more wheat, canola acres in 2023

Corn, soy, barley acres also expected up

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canadian farmers intend to plant more wheat and canola in 2023, with soybeans, corn and barley area also forecast to expand, according to Statistics Canada’s projections for field crop area. The increases in those crops will come at the expense of oats, lentils and peas, with intended summerfallow area down to its smallest […] Read more

(Merit Functional Foods video screengrab via YouTube)

Merit Foods co-owner Burcon partnering on bid for assets

Unnamed 'plant protein company' now in on Burcon's bid

Reading Time: 2 minutes A major shareholder in beleaguered pea and canola protein processor Merit Functional Foods has brought on an unnamed partner in its bid to buy the business out of receivership. After announcing last month it would submit a bid for the next-to-new Merit assets, Vancouver-based plant protein firm Burcon NutraScience said Monday it’s now “participating in […] Read more


Photo: Greg Berg

Analysts expect additional acres for canola, wheat

StatCan estimates due out Wednesday

Reading Time: 3 minutes MarketsFarm — If traders and analysts are correct with their estimates, there will be slightly more wheat and canola acres seeded in Canada this year compared to 2022. Statistics Canada (StatCan) will release its first survey-based acreage estimates for the 2023-24 marketing year on April 26. Other than drier and cooler conditions in southern Manitoba, […] Read more

An adult lygus bug. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Matador, Voliam insecticides back in ‘limited’ release

Revised labels prohibit feeding, foraging of treated crops

Reading Time: 4 minutes Syngenta Canada no longer plans to keep its lambda-cyhalothrin insecticide products off the market in Western Canada this year — but it’s planning to have a smaller supply. The crop chem and seed company announced Friday it will have a “limited amount” of its lambda-cy-based products Matador 120EC and Voliam Xpress available in the West […] Read more


ICE July 2023 canola with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Weather to influence canola price movement

Short-covering seen supporting front months for now

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canola contracts on the ICE Futures platform held relatively rangebound during the week ended Wednesday, trading within a $20 per tonne range in most months as market participants wait to get a better handle on new-crop prospects. “There’s some concern developing on seeding delays,” said Jamie Wilton of RJ O’Brien in Winnipeg, adding […] Read more

“We have been irrigating in Saskatchewan for 100 years, but we’re still underutilizing our water resource.” — Laurie Tollefson.

Are the reservoir dog days ending?

If the new canola processors announced for Regina become fully functioning facilities, they could process an additional 4.5 million tonnes of canola per year. Could Lake Diefenbaker water help?

Reading Time: 9 minutes The quickest path from Regina, Sask., to Steve Nelson’s farm at Birsay is to cross Lake Diefenbaker on the Riverhurst Ferry. The flat-deck ferry travels on the hour, carrying vehicles across the two-kilometre expanse of water, cutting highway travel time by at least an hour, maybe two. As a bonus, the experience gets travellers up […] Read more


File photo of a rapeseed field in India. (Amlanmathur/iStock/Getty Images)

India’s rapeseed output to be steady

El Nino may be a spoiler

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Rapeseed production in India has been forecast to remain quite consistent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) attaché in New Delhi. The attaché projected rapeseed production for 2023-24 to hold at 11.5 million tonnes, the same in 2022-23. USDA’s official numbers placed India as the world’s No. 4 producer of rapeseed, […] Read more

An intercrop of forage peas and canola grown in Ontario.

Crop insurance considering coverage on intercrops

Intercrop trials continue at Saskatchewan’s South East Research Farm

Reading Time: 5 minutes At South East Research Farm in Redvers, Sask., research manager Lana Shaw is constantly cooking up new intercrop combinations. It’s a matter of great interest to the growing numbers of farmers who have adopted the practice. In 2019 there were about 70,000 intercropped acres documented by Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation (SCIC). In 2021, just 25,000 […] Read more


ICE November 2023 canola with Bollinger bands (20,2) and May 2023 canola (black line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: New-crop November canola set to step back

StatCan not expected to sway futures much

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — There is presently little upside to new-crop November canola on ICE Futures, according to analyst Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. Anderson pointed to losses in Malaysian palm oil and weakness in China’s soymeal market as weighing on ICE canola values, with more pressure coming out of South America. “The [soybean] production […] Read more

Louis Dreyfus’ oilseed processing plant at Yorkton, Sask. (LDC.com)

Louis Dreyfus expanding Yorkton canola crush plant

New expansion would more than double plant's capacity

Reading Time: 2 minutes Louis Dreyfus’ Yorkton, Sask. canola crushing plant is about to undergo another major expansion. The project, announced Tuesday, is expected to add an additional canola crushing line and more than double the plant’s annual capacity to over two million tonnes upon completion. Construction is due to begin later this year. The crush plant, built in […] Read more