Construction presses on at Roquette’s pea-processing plant at Portage la Prairie, Man. (Roquette photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Manitoba pea plant construction continues

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Work continues on Roquette’s pea processing plant at Portage la Prairie, Man., where the French plant-protein firm says measures have been taken to meet health and safety regulations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. “Beginning in early March we proactively started collaborating with contractors on COVID-19 prevention measures, such as increased cleaning of communal spaces […] Read more

CBOT July 2020 soybeans (candlesticks) with NYMEX July 2020 WTI crude oil (blue line). (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: Crude volatility holds down corn, soy

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Hit by an unprecedented crash in North American crude oil prices, particularly this week, corn and soybeans have struggled at the Chicago Board of Trade, according to Terry Reilly of Futures International. As the May contract for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) wrapped up earlier this week, it crashed so badly its price turned […] Read more


(Country Guide file photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Durum holds steady, other spring wheats down

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Wheat bids in Western Canada were mostly lower for the week ended Thursday, due to declines in U.S. markets. Support came from a weaker Canadian dollar. Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheats were lower, while Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) was steady to higher. Average CWRS (13.5 […] Read more

ICE May 2020 canola (candlesticks, in Cdn$) and CBOT May 2020 soymeal (yellow line, US$). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Loonie’s rally kept canola lower

CBOT soymeal, soyoil also drag on canola

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canola prices dropped over the last week due to a combination of factors, according to David Derwin of PI Financial in Winnipeg. The Canadian dollar was one of those factors, as it had a small rally that pushed the loonie to almost 72 U.S. cents. That rally ended Wednesday, however, when the dollar […] Read more


Canola seed, oil and meal. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

February’s oilseed crush lower than January’s

Canola, soybean crush down on month, StatsCan reports

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — As has often been the case, February 2020’s oilseed crush was lower than January’s, according to Statistics Canada’s latest report released Thursday. More than 812,600 tonnes of canola were crushed in February, down 4.9 per cent from January. Also, there were 144,260 tonnes of soybeans crushed in February, for a drop of 10.7 […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Pandemic to delay StatsCan’s agriculture reports

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Farmers, commodity traders and market analysts will have to wait a while for agriculture-related reports from Statistics Canada in 2020. The main reason for the delay is the COVID-19 pandemic, said John Seay, an analyst with StatsCan’s agriculture, energy, environment and transportation statistics branch in Ottawa. “Given the COVID-19 outbreak, senior management is […] Read more


Green lentils. (Savany/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Prices mostly steady ahead of seeding

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — As farmers decide what to plant in 2020, Dale McManus of Johnston’s Grain at Welwyn, Sask. hasn’t seen any significant deviation from what producers normally buy for pulse seed. “Red lentils, green lentils, green and yellow peas,” McManus cited among the pulses being purchased. Also, he noted, prices have remained quite steady in […] Read more

A canola field blooms in Manitoba’s Interlake on July 11, 2019.  (Greg Berg photo)

Canola production paths diverge for Canada, Australia

Issues seen in Canadian crop quality, logistics

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canola production is on different paths in Canada and Australia, according to the respective attachés from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). For the world’s top two canola exporters, the attachés forecast production in Canada to remain steady and project strong gains for Australia. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) published the reports Monday, […] Read more