Photo: Getty Images

Organic operators down, acreage up: new industry stats

Total organic sales in 2022 was $10.26, billion up from $9.35 billion in 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes The number of Canadian organic producers and processors fell by nearly 300 in 2022 according to the latest industry stats. “There’s people coming in and there’s people going out,” said Tia Loftsgard, executive director of the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA). 

Chickpea curry. (Modesigns58/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Activity to ramp up for chickpeas

'Quality was good, yields were lower'

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Things are quiet right now on the chickpea front, but that could change in a few weeks, according to Jake Hansen of Mid-West Grain in Moose Jaw. “I think everyone’s getting prepped and ready for Argentina’s harvest, but it’s quiet,” he said. “There’s still movement on previous contracts, but not a lot of […] Read more


File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Smaller yields than last year in Saskatchewan

Pulse production seen varying by location

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Yields and crop conditions from this year’s pulse harvest in Saskatchewan largely varied by location, according to SaskPulse executive director Carl Potts. “Generally on the east side of the province and some areas of the south, some pretty good yields. And then in the west-central, southwest regions, some yields that were quite low. […] Read more

On the morning of Dec. 30, the nearby January canola contract apparently hit a new all-time high.  Photo: File

Tightening canola stocks projected, AAFC says

Wheat, barley, oat, pea stocks also projected lower

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm –– Canadian canola carryout supplies for the current marketing year will likely end up tighter than earlier expectations, according to updated supply/demand balance sheets from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) that account for recent production and stocks data from Statistics Canada. Canola ending stocks for 2023-24 are now forecast to tighten to only one […] Read more


(Iggi_Boo/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Canada’s prices well supported given smaller crops

Dispute between Canada, India to be watched closely

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canadian pulse production came in well below average in 2023, keeping prices supported for the time being. Total pea production was pegged at 2.27 million tonnes by Statistics Canada on Thursday. That was up slightly from the 2.19 million tonnes forecast in August, but well off the 3.42 million tonnes grown the previous […] Read more

File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Saskatchewan production, yields ‘slightly lower’

Peas, lentils over 90 per cent harvested

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Dale Risula, Saskatchewan’s provincial specialist for pulses, forages and specialty crops, said that while this year’s harvest is progressing well, he expects average-at-best pulse production this year. As of Sept. 4, the province’s dry pea harvest was 92 per cent complete, while 91 per cent of the lentil crop was combined. Only 51 […] Read more


(Iggi_Boo/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Lentils, peas show large declines in StatCan report

Chickpea, soy production expected up on the year

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada (StatCan) showed a mostly tightened outlook for Canadian pulses in its first model-based supply/demand estimates for the 2023-24 marketing year. StatCan on Tuesday released those projections, which largely presented a reduction in yields due to ongoing dry conditions on the Prairies. As of July 31, Canadian dry field pea output was […] Read more

Corn performed well at the Resilient Rotations test site in Carman, Man., in 2020. The crop’s excellent performance was a key driver of net returns in the Red River Valley region in Manitoba.

Crop rotations and the bottom line

Prairie researchers examine how different crop rotations affect net economic returns

Reading Time: 7 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – When it comes to on-farm decision making, the bottom line for most farmers is often, well, the bottom line. A 2019 survey of Manitoba farmers bore that out. The survey, conducted on behalf of the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, asked farmers which factors were important to them when planning their crop […] Read more


File photo of a lentil crop before harvest in Saskatchewan. (Bobloblaw/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: AAFC trims production numbers

Lentil, chickpea prices up after report

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Among the many revisions Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada made to its August supply and demand report on Friday were reductions in pulse output for 2023-24. Most of Canada’s pulses are grown on the Prairies, and in particular southern Alberta and western Saskatchewan, which happen to be the driest parts of the region, leading […] Read more

Chickpea curry. (Modesigns58/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Chickpea market neither bullish nor bearish

Market players awaiting harvest

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Hot and dry growing conditions earlier in the growing season cut into Canada’s chickpea yields in 2023-24, but quality should be good if the weather co-operates through the harvest. Canadian farmers planted 315,600 acres of chickpeas in 2023, which was well above the 233,800 acres seeded the previous year, according to Statistics Canada […] Read more