Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian farmers intend to seed less canola in 2024 compared to the previous year, while overall wheat area should hold relatively steady, according to the latest Statistics Canada survey results released March 11.
Oats
Canadian canola acres to dip in 2024, wheat steady: StatCan
Lower prices, moisture concerns cited; moisture has since improved somewhat
Chlormequat found in oat foods prompts U.S. lawsuits
Class action suits rely on Environmental Working Group scientists who claim much lower safe limit than EPA
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chlormequat use in oat production has prompted two class action lawsuits in California against General Mills and Quaker Oats.
Europe’s grain farms await rain break after damp winter
Weak prices for maize could encourage planting other crops
Reading Time: 2 minutes Grain growers in western Europe will need rain to ease this month to progress with spring planting, after a wet February maintained soggy field conditions that have already put the region on course for a smaller wheat harvest, analysts said.
Oat millers recommend not using Manipulator
Farmers advised the juice may not be worth the squeeze on heels of contamination report
Reading Time: 4 minutes Oat millers in Canada are telling growers that a plant growth regulator isn't effective on oats, so farmers probably don't need to use it.
Oat producers call chlormequat report fear mongering
Environmental Working Group blames Canadian producers for residues of plant growth regulator found in oat products
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Prairie Oat Growers Association is pushing back against allegations that Canadian oats are contaminated with chemicals from a plant growth regulator.
Canadian farmers blamed for ag chemical in U.S. oat foods
Discovery sets off media story despite samples testing well inside safe levels
Reading Time: 3 minutes A U.S. environmental group is pointing a finger at Canadian oat growers, saying they’re the cause of ag chemical residues found in Cheerios and Quaker Oats.
Court remedy sought for unfulfilled contracts
Sask. company claims equipment breakdown at a third-party mill caused it to declare force majeure on contracted oats
Reading Time: 2 minutes More than two dozen farmers are moving ahead with legal action against Purely Canada Foods after it failed to honour contracts for gluten-free oats. The dispute centres on 2022 gluten-free oat contracts. On March 1, 2023, the company sent a letter to the farmers saying it was voiding the contracts because oat processing machinery had failed the previous fall and it couldn’t accept the crop.
Higher canola, wheat production expected in StatCan report
Traders raise concerns about report accuracy
Reading Time: 3 minutes MarketsFarm — There was a consensus among several traders and analysts that Statistics Canada will very likely raise its estimates on canola and wheat production for 2023-24. Yields on the Prairies were better than expected following a difficult first half of the growing period, as the weather improved during the second half. StatCan is set […] Read more
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).
Oat cash prices don’t immediately follow CBOT movement
One trader can push market around, trader says
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — While oats on the Chicago Board of Trade rallied recently, upward movement in cash prices was varied. Even as that rally came to its eventual end, cash prices on the Canadian Prairies did not budge a great deal. Over nine consecutive sessions, the December oat contract at Chicago pushed higher by 29.5 U.S. […] Read more