May canola settled at C$704.90 per tonne on April 8, falling out of the sideways trading range it had held for the previous three weeks.

• For daily market updates, visit The Western Producer Markets Desk

From a technical standpoint, May canola had been creating a coiling pattern over the past month, with the break lower opening up significant room to the downside, said analyst Mike Jubinville. Looking at a chart, the next support comes in at C$700 per tonne and then around C$680.

However, seasonal price trends at this time of year generally point higher, said Jubinville.

While old crop canola supplies remain more than sufficient to meet demand, he added that reduced fertilizer applications due to high costs could be supportive in the longer term.

With the bearish technical signals on one side and supportive seasonals on the other, “the markets will just trade the war,” added Western Producer markets desk analyst Bruce Burnett.

The post ICE weekly: War news driving canola markets appeared first on Country Guide.

Some plants do this by putting a pause on productivity until the weather improves. In our recently published research, we discovered which genes control the “pause-and-play” mechanism of plant growth and are key for the survival of Canada’s crops.

Our goal is to understand the genetic factors that control growth so they can eventually be used to improve the ability of Canadian and global crops to handle weather stresses like drought, heat and cold temperatures.

A changing climate means extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. These findings could help create climate-resilient, genetically engineered crops that can recover faster and more efficiently after climate shocks.

These plants might be more likely to complete their life cycle and produce food during the harvest season, even after experiencing snowstorms, heat waves or flooding.

How plants handle weather stress

To get an idea of how plants tolerate stress, we measured root growth under a series of environmental stresses that Canadian and globally relevant crops commonly face throughout their life cycles. These included cold temperatures, salt stress and drought-like conditions. For our first experiments, we used thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana).

Roots are particularly useful for this type of research because they grow continuously and respond quickly to environmental change.

By measuring root length over time, we could see when growth slowed down and when it resumed. We tested the root length in model organism.

We found that tested plants paused their root growth when exposed to cold or salt stress. When the stress was removed and the plants returned to normal growing conditions, root growth resumed as normal within about 24 hours.

However, plants did not respond the same way to every type of stress. We found that plants can recover from osmotic or drought stress, but it takes a little longer for them to do so. We referred to that dynamic as “pause and push” because plants need time to push through and recover.

To test whether the same stress response occurs in other plant species, we partnered with researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture. Together, we repeated the experiments using two wild grasses that are closely related to major cereal crops: brachypodium (Brachypodium distachyon) and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum).

The grasses showed similar patterns of stress response and recovery. That suggests the mechanism that pauses and restarts growth may be shared across many plant species.

Pinpointing stress-recovery genes

Observing these dynamics is one thing, but how can scientists figure out what’s going on at the genetic and molecular level?

One common approach is to attach a fluorescent marker to genes of interest. Scientists often use a green fluorescent protein, originally discovered in jellyfish, that glows under specific light.

When this protein is inserted into a plant genome, researchers can fuse it to a gene of interest to see when and where that gene becomes active as it lights up inside cells.

We knew that the lack of growth during stress was due to a decrease in cell division, so we targeted genes related to cell division. Using fluorescent markers, we observed how the plant cells lit up differently in response to stress and stress recovery.

After counting thousands of cells for months, we could see certain genes were present in fewer cells when plants were under cold, drought and salt stress. However, within about 24 hours of being put back into optimal growth conditions, their numbers returned to normal.

One gene stood out in particular: Cyclin-dependent Kinase A;1 (CDKA;1). This gene helps regulate the cell cycle, the process that controls when cells divide and grow. A related gene named CDK1 exists in animals and humans, where it performs similar functions.

After performing more experiments targeting CDKA;1 in plants, we found that inhibiting the gene prevented plants from recovering from cold and salt stress. This suggests CDKA;1 plays a vital role in helping plants resume growth once environmental conditions stabilize.

Supporting food security

Our focus is on helping crops recover faster. We can’t stop heat waves or snowstorms. Pinpointing genes, however, can help plants recover from these events and still produce in time for harvest.

Understanding these genes opens the door to new approaches in crop breeding. Researchers could look for natural variants of these genes that already exist in crop populations. Traditional breeding programs could then select for varieties that recover faster after stress.

Another option is modern gene-editing tools such as CRISPR. This tool allows scientists to make precise changes to a plant’s DNA, including strengthening or adjusting genes involved in stress recovery.

As our research progresses, we hope to adjust the genetics of these Canadian crop varieties and create our own CRISPR-edited lines that are better able to cope with a changing climate.

Improving stress recovery could also expand where crops can be grown. Regions that currently experience unpredictable weather or short growing seasons may become more suitable for agriculture if crops can recover quickly after stress.

For Canada, this could help stabilize production in areas where climate variability is increasing. For the global food system, it could make crops better equipped to handle the environmental uncertainty expected in the coming decades.

By identifying the genes that allow plants to pause growth during stress and restart, we’re beginning to understand a critical survival strategy in plants. This knowledge can eventually help ensure crops continue to produce reliable harvests in a changing climate.

—Arif Ashraf is an assistant professor in the University of British Columbia’s department of botany. Olivia Hazelwood is a PhD student in the department of botany.

The post OPINION: Understanding how plants pause and restart growth can help develop climate-resilient crops appeared first on Country Guide.

Prairie farmers have always farmed in a risky climate, dealing with drought, hail, excessive moisture and early frost, to name just a few challenges.

But researchers say the nature of that risk is beginning to change, as shifting global weather patterns reshape prairie growing conditions.

Winters are warmer, snow is melting earlier and, in some areas, snowmelt now happens weeks earlier than it did a generation ago.

The result is a farm environment that is becoming more variable, with longer droughts, occasional flooding in unexpected places and greater swings between wet and dry years.

The outlook isn’t uniformly negative. In some regions, longer growing seasons and more heat units could boost crop potential.

And many experts say farmers are already adapting by improving soil health and water retention and creating flexibility in their cropping systems.

Still, greater climate variability, especially around drought and water supply, means farmers will need to stay informed and continue adjusting both practices and mindset to manage a more unpredictable future.

Weather shifts already underway

The most obvious effect of climate change in the Canadian Prairies is warming winters, says Dr. David Sauchyn, director of the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative and a professor at the University of Regina.

He says while extreme cold also still occurs, it is becoming less frequent and shorter in duration.

“What has changed fairly dramatically is the frequency of really low temperatures, and especially the duration,” he says. “We still get minus 35, but not for weeks on end.”

Extreme heat isn’t new to the Prairies, he adds (the 1930s remain the benchmark), but seasonal timing is shifting. Earlier snowmelt is altering how water moves through prairie landscapes.

“The key to climate change is its impact on our water supply,” he says, adding that as these conditions continue, farmers can expect snowmelt to occur earlier in the year. “So, come the end of the summer, there’s less water available in the streams and lakes. That’s the major impact of temperature: it’s on the snowpack and the snowmelt.”

In some cases, precipitation that once fell as snow is now arriving as rain, he says.

“We expect rain in winter, which we’re already seeing.”

Hydrologist John Pomeroy says prairie warming has already surpassed global averages.

“In many parts of the Prairies, in some seasons, we passed two and a half degrees already,” he says, with snowmelt now occurring about three weeks earlier than in the mid-20th century.

“We’re getting earlier melts, but we’re also getting mid-winter melts — big ones that just weren’t common at all,” he adds. This increases spring flood risk as ice layers prevent water from soaking into frozen ground.

Rainfall isn’t rising overall, he says, but it’s more concentrated. Multi-day storms, up roughly 50 per cent since the 1950s, are driving more erosion and flooding.

“We were always prepared for spring flooding … but not expected to have flooded fields in July.”

Drought, however, remains the defining constraint, now expanding into parts of the Prairies, particularly the northern and eastern grain belt, which historically saw fewer dry periods.

“The ultimate limitation in our part of the world is drought,” says Sauchyn.

What’s coming next: Hotter, drier, less predictable weather patterns

Looking ahead, researchers say warming on the Prairies is very likely to continue.

Just how much, however, will depend on greenhouse gas management, says Pomeroy.

“We’re probably not heading for what, 10 years ago, we would have called the ‘worst-case-business-as-usual-scenario,’ … But we’re probably headed for three to four degrees of warming overall.”

Because the Prairies are located deep within a continent, warming here could exceed global averages, he says.

“The bad part of that is that it’s most intense in the summer and in the winters.”

In his estimation, summer is getting hotter, sometimes by up to eight degrees in the Prairies and winter is getting much warmer as well.

Earlier models suggested a wetter future, but newer projections point to a drier continental interior. “Hotter and drier is going to be really tough for us,” Pomeroy says.

He also believes that the effects will vary. Dryland farming in the western and southern Prairies may become far more difficult, or even impossible in some areas, while parts of the north and east could see yield gains in some years.

Water supplies will also become less reliable, he says.

“The glaciers will have melted out … by mid-century,” he says, adding that declining snowpacks will reduce late-summer flows and make irrigation more challenging.

Silver linings to changing weather patterns

There is good news too, say experts: prairie agriculture is already adapting, arguably faster than the climate is changing.

Sauchyn says farmers are already adopting soil health and moisture management practices, including the use of cover crops, intercropping, maintaining diversity in the field and limiting tillage.

“All those principles of soil health … that increase and maintain soil moisture and carbon, they seem to be effective adaptations for what we expect from a changing climate,” he says.

Furthermore, he says that we are already seeing how effective these practices can be in response to changing climate patterns.

“Those producers have been really careful about maintaining a cover and improving the soil health. They’re producing a crop even though we’ve had some pretty dry years.”

Sauchyn says there are also notable potential upsides to changing climate patterns for Canadian farmers, especially those in cooler, previously marginal regions.

Warmer winters and a longer frost‑free season mean more heat units and a longer growing season. This can boost productivity and open up new areas to cropping, particularly along the northern and western margins of the grain belt, where short seasons used to be a key limitation.

Sauchyn also notes that, over time, more of the increased precipitation is likely to come in winter and spring, aligning with crop water needs, even as drought remains the ultimate constraint.

“Despite our climate change forecasts, it will be possible to both prevent crop losses and take advantage of a warming climate.”

Adapting to uncertainty: What comes next

Although Sauchyn, who comes from a farm family himself, says he never tells farmers what to do, he will share what the science reveals in terms of effective management strategies.

Based on his research, he believes maintaining soil structure and water storage will remain especially important, as well as continuing to adopt soil health and moisture management practices.

Pomeroy also believes that it will be critical for farmers to be adaptable in their cropping decisions and management strategies.

“Producers have to be very, very flexible in what they plant in different years,” he says. “When you get a wet cycle, take advantage of it, get bumper crops … but then be ready for those dry cycles.”

He says farmers may also increasingly rely on better forecasting tools and weather data to guide decisions, and that more variable precipitation patterns could also encourage greater interest in water storage and irrigation where feasible.

He also believes there will be a role for governments to play in supporting farmers through these challenges. This should include continued federal funding for research developing crop systems suited to warmer, more variable conditions. It could also mean providing financial support for farmers if and when times get tough.

“There’ll just be years where you can’t do much of anything,” he says. “Governments have to be ready with those financial instruments that helps them in that.”

Because climate volatility will affect entire regions, co-operation between farmers, researchers and policymakers will also be essential, he says.

“Farmers won’t be able to do that alone.”

Change is the name of the game

Prairie agriculture has never been static, and climate change is simply the latest force reshaping how farmers work the land.

What’s different now is the pace and unpredictability of that change.

The future will likely bring sharper extremes, according to experts, but it will also bring new opportunities in some regions, along with tools and practices that can help farmers adapt.

In many ways, that adaptation is already underway. Canadian farmers are improving soil health, refining water management and making more flexible cropping decisions, steps that not only respond to today’s challenges, but that build resilience for the future. Supported by ongoing research and innovation, these changes will help position prairie agriculture to remain productive and competitive, even as conditions evolve.

The climate may be changing, but so, too, has farmers’ capacity to respond to it — and that may be the greatest advantage for Canadian agriculture.

How and where climate change could benefit prairie farming 

While climate change brings real risks, experts say it also creates new opportunities — especially along the northern and western edges of the prairie grain belt, where cold and short growing seasons have historically limited production.

Key potential benefits:

Longer growing seasons = more crop potential

Warmer temperatures are already extending the growing season across the Prairies. Research shows the frost-free period in Canada has increased by more than 20 days over the past century, with measurable gains in growing degree days and heat units. According to prairie climate change and adaptation expert Dr. David Sauchyn, the expanding window between last spring frost and first fall frost is “mostly good news for farming,” allowing crops more time to mature and potentially boosting yields.

New areas opening up to cropping

Warming temperatures are increasing heat units in cooler regions, allowing crops to expand northward. Studies show rising growing degree days have already made it possible to grow crops like corn farther north on the Prairies, where it was previously not viable. Dr. Sauchyn says, as the climate continues to change, there could be increased potential for productivity in these regions. “In the past, the limitation has been heat units … that problem is going to be alleviated,” he says.

Expanded crop options, including winter crops

Milder winters and more winter and spring moisture could make crops like winter wheat more practical, similar to systems that are already common in the northern United States, says water and climate change expert Dr. John Pomeroy. This could also open the door to other new crops.

Higher yield potential in some regions

In some areas, especially in the northern and eastern Prairies, longer growing seasons and increased precipitation have the potential to support higher yields in many years. More heat units and growing days can improve crop development — if moisture is sufficient.

Greater viability for irrigation and intensification

More heat units and longer seasons could make irrigation economically viable in new areas, supporting higher-value crops and increased productivity.

Bottom line: Climate change may shift where and how crops are grown, but in some parts of the Prairies, it could significantly expand what’s possible.

The post How to manage crops in shifting weather patterns appeared first on Country Guide.

Planting decisions

“A decent amount of Canadian canola oil goes into the U.S. for biofuels, so this is the crop that could be impacted if there is a U.S. trade issue,” says Darren Bond, a crops farm management specialist for Manitoba Agriculture.

Most producers’ acres are locked in due to rotation requirements and, depending on the producer, only 10 to 20 per cent of their land could be considered swing acres, he says.

More important than U.S. trade when switching acres between crops is high fertilizer costs, which were high even before the Middle East conflict, Bond adds.

Leigh Anderson, a senior economist at Farm Credit Canada (FCC), says that farmers are talking with their agronomists and crop input suppliers to plan these decisions.

“These plans could include changing what crops they plant, adjusting fertilizer use or revising yield targets that make economic sense in the current environment,” he says.

Fertilizer

Bond says how producers manage fertilizer this year will be key to their profitability. Effectively using the 4Rs (right source, right rate, right time, right place) will ensure getting the most out of fertilizer.

“There is a difference between being cost effective and cheap,” Bond says. “Cost effective is where every decision is analyzed and only outputs that provide an adequate return receive investment. Cheap is just cutting expenses because something seems too expensive.”

Taking steps to achieve maximum yields, while cutting expenses that provide little to no return, will be the keys to success in tight margin years, says Bond.

Expanding operations

Bond adds that whether producers pursue or hold off on expanding acreage will largely depend on their management and equipment capacity.

“If there is capacity that is currently not being used to its fullest potential, then expanding acres makes sense,” he says.

High costs and tighter margins tend to result in less land sold.

“Landowners may choose to rent out acres for a few years and wait until better margins return before putting land on the market,” Bond explains. “Producers may choose to rent land over purchasing it because the cash outlay is much smaller, and land rental contracts are for much shorter durations than a mortgage from a land purchase, leading to much less risk with land rental situations.”

Anderson adds that purchasing land in 2026 will come with careful consideration of price and timing.

“Some operations will prefer to wait and see where land values will settle while others may move more quickly should adjacent land become available, or simply because it fits their strategic business plans,” he says.

Producers should be aware of the external environments that can affect their businesses when it comes to deciding whether to buy or rent more land, but that shouldn’t be at the top of the list.

“Their focus should be on things they actually control, like marketing grain, managing equipment costs and understanding their costs of production,” Anderson says.

Livestock operations

External factors will affect livestock operations as well, but more so by weather than economic news, Anderson says.

“Cattle producers are awaiting spring weather to see pasture and hay conditions which will impact their ability to expand,” he says. “Meanwhile, the hog sector has faced a challenging winter for disease pressures, which has pressured supply.”

Anderson notes that Canada’s livestock herd expanded according to the January 1 inventory estimates released by Statistics Canada. StatsCan reported the Canadian cattle herd rose on January 1, 2026, in the first year-over-year increase since 2018. During the same period, StatsCan data shows that Canadian hog inventories fell due to higher international exports and slaughter in both Eastern and Western Canada.

Bond notes that beef margins are currently decent, but there remains a two-fold challenge when it comes to expansion, especially in the cow-calf industry.

“One is that it is very expensive to expand one’s cow herd, whether it be through retention (lost revenue) or purchase,” he says. “Secondly is that cow-calf production is very labour intensive, with many looking at the time and dedication that is required for an expansion, and simply deciding it’s not worth it.”

Equipment replacement

Producers will also take a hard and long look before purchasing equipment so that they don’t overextend themselves, according to Bond.

Used equipment might be more attractive in a year like this. It comes down to a cost-benefit analysis between the two situations, Bond says.

“Used equipment comes with a lower price tag, which is the biggest attraction,” he points out. “However, new equipment comes with warranty, a longer lifespan and dealer support.”

Weighing these options, while considering risk tolerance levels, will be the largest element in how farmers choose to equip themselves. Some will decide to hold on to their iron for an extended period.

“That fear of overextending oneself will keep iron on the farm longer until the margins improve,” Bond says.

Thanks to falling commodity prices, higher operating costs and lower profits, Anderson says that farmers are cautiously approaching their equipment replacement decisions, placing greater emphasis on their price per acre equipment costs.

“Farmers are looking for cost-saving measures, including delaying purchases and planning to further reduce equipment costs,” Anderson says, adding that FCC expects overall used equipment sales to outperform new ones.

Click here to read part one in this series.

The post Economic indicators your farm should keep an eye on appeared first on Country Guide.

“And very mixed in the direction they’re going,” Leclerc added.

She said some in the industry are saying the feedlots are full and feed prices are coming down, while other people indicated prices are largely unchanged.

• For daily market updates, visit the Western Producer Markets Desk

Leclerc said elevator prices are flat as well, but wheat prices have been pointing upward. That should lead to higher prices for feed wheat.

“They’re going to have to eventually buy it at a level where its comparable to where you can sell it elsewhere,” she said.

Feed prices were steady to higher across Western Canada, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire.

For the week ended April 1, feed barley gained seven cents in Alberta at C$5.01 to C$6.75 per bushel delivered and it added four cents in Manitoba at C$4.60 to C$4.75. Prices in Saskatchewan were unchanged at C$5.12 to C$5.45 bu./del.

As for feed wheat, prices were firmer, with the only increase in Manitoba of five cents at C$6.32 bu./del. Alberta was steady at C$5.97 to C$8.41 bu./del. and Saskatchewan held at C$7.30.

The post Feed Grains Weekly: Cash prices for wheat, barley largely flat appeared first on Country Guide.

India

The USDA attaché in New Delhi projected India’s 2026/27 canola production at 12.10 million tonnes, slightly higher than the 2025/26 harvest of 11.90 million.

While yields are expected to hold at 1.31 tonnes per hectare, the attaché forecast Indian farmers to harvest more area – 9.25 million hectares versus 9.10 million in 2025/26.

“(Canola) is expected to remain profitable, with prices sufficient to cover input costs and ensure solid margins for growers,” the attaché wrote.

WHY IT MATTERS: India is among the largest canola producers in the world and Japan is a major oilseed importer.

Despite India being one of the world’s top canola growers, the country does not import or export the crop.

The New Delhi desk estimated the domestic crush will bump up to 10.90 million tonnes from 10.70 million, while domestic consumption is to match the 2026/27 crop. Ending stocks are to hold at 569,000 tonnes.

Japan

As for Japan, it will continue to be one of the major canola importers. However those for 2026/27 are to dip to 2.15 million tonnes from 2.16 million the year before.

The USDA attaché in Tokyo said the bulk of Japan’s canola imports come from Canada, but the supplier’s share has dropped from about 96 per cent of Japan’s imports to around 83 per cent. Australia has remained a major source of canola for Japan.

“Japanese crushers have noted higher oil extraction rates from Australian canola compared to Canadian seeds, though meal extraction rates are converse,” the attaché said.

Japan’s domestic canola crop is to be only 3,000 tonnes.

Virtually all of the country’s canola will be crushed, with a mere 5,000 tonnes for feed, waste and domestic consumption.

Ending stocks are to remain stable at 200,000 tonnes.

The post India, Japan canola crops to be steady in 2026/27 – USDA appeared first on Country Guide.

This extends the $250,000 limit, which was set in March 2025.

Producers can receive an additional $250,000 interest free on canola only for a total of $500,000.

“By increasing the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program, we’re helping farmers manage costs, while giving them more flexibility to market their products on their terms,” Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Heath MacDonald said in an April 1 news release.

The program offers up to $1 million to Canadian farmers based on the expected value of their agricultural products. Twenty-four industry groups across Canada deliver the program.

The Canadian Federation of Agriculture praised the extension of the $250,000 interest-free limit.

“Maintaining the $250,000 interest free portion reflects the realities farmers are facing today,” said CFA president Keith Currie.

“We are seeing continued volatility in input costs, supply chains and global markets, and this type of support is important in helping farmers navigate those pressures.”

“We look forward to continuing to work with government to secure a permanent increase to the interest free portion of the program, so that producers have the predictability they need to make informed business decisions in an increasingly complex operating environment,” he added.

The post Advance Payments Program interest free limit set at $250,000 for 2026 appeared first on Country Guide.

• For daily market updates, visit the Western Producer Markets Desk

The loonie also gave up more than 9/10ths of a cent, making wheat and durum more appealing to export customers.

Canadian Western Red Spring

Average CWRS (13.5 per cent) prices advanced C$14.60 to C$25.70 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and Data Quotes). Prices ranged from about C$278.10 per tonne in southeastern Saskatchewan to C$304.70 per tonne in southern Alberta.

Quoted basis levels varied from location to location and ranged from C$36.20 to C$62.70 per tonne above the futures when using the grain company methodology of quoting the basis as the difference between the U.S. dollar-denominated futures and the Canadian dollar cash bids.

CWRS basis levels

When accounting for currency exchange rates by adjusting Canadian prices to U.S. dollars (C$1=US$0.7174), CWRS bids ranged from US$199.50 to US$218.60 per tonne. That would put the currency-adjusted basis levels at about US$23.40 to US$42.40 below the futures.

Looking at it the other way around, if the Minneapolis futures are converted to Canadian dollars, CWRS basis levels across Western Canada ranged from C$16.80 to C$30.50 below the futures.

Canadian Prairie Spring Red

Average CPRS (11.5 per cent) wheat prices increased C$15.90 to C$17.30 per tonne. Bids ranged from C$252.60 per tonne in northeastern Saskatchewan to C$281.20 per tonne in southern Alberta.

Canadian Western Amber Durum

Average CWAD prices were up more moderately, adding 40 cents to C$1.50 per tonne. Bids ranged from C$282.20 per tonne in northwestern Saskatchewan to C$296.90 per tonne in western Manitoba.

U.S. wheat complex

The May spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, which most CWRS contracts Canada are based off of, was quoted at US$6.5850 per bushel on March 31, advancing 27.25 cents on the week.

The Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures, which are now traded in Chicago, are more closely linked to CPRS in Canada. The May Kansas City wheat contract was quoted at US$6.3550 per bushel on March 31, jumping 31.50 cents.

The May Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat contract settled at US$6.1625 per bushel March 31, gaining 26.25 cents.

The post Prairie Wheat Weekly: Good increases for wheat, while durum nudges up appeared first on Country Guide.

The USDA also issued its quarterly grain stocks report with stocks for soybeans bigger than anticipated, while those for corn were smaller and wheat virtually matched the average trade guess.

USDA forecasts seeded acres for 2026/27

The USDA predicted corn planting intentions at 95.34 million acres, which is down from 98.79 million acres U.S. farmers seeded last year, but less than the market projection of 94.37 million.

The shift away from corn to soybeans was not as large as the trade believed there was going to be.

“That was the big conversation, how many corn acres there was going to be, especially with the beans this year,” said Ryan Etnner, broker with Allendale Inc. in McHenry, Illinois.

• For daily market updates, visit the Western Producer Markets Desk

The report placed soybean acres at 84.70 million, up from 81.22 million last year, but short of the market projection of 85.55 million.

Ettner said the total wheat acres caught his eye, with how close the USDA was to the trade guess. The department placed its forecast at 43.78 million acres and trade called for 44.79 million. Last year, farmers planted 45.33 million acres of wheat.

Fertilizer issues could be down the road

The broker added that rising fertilizer prices did not have as great an effect on the switch from corn to soybeans. He said most U.S. farmers apply their fertilizer in the fall and what will go on the fields this spring was largely bought before the Middle East war.

“The bigger concern is fall of this year, if things don’t calm down over there by that point,” Ettner said. “Most people are assuming this is a larger 2027 issue if the war is still going on by the fall.”

USDA Planting Intentions (Millions of acres)

1 acre = 0.405 hectares

Grain stocks

As for grain stocks as of March 1, Ettner said there was some pre-report speculation that total corn could be as high as 9.30 billion bushels.

“The quarterly stocks all came in line. The one concern was ‘what if corn had come in bigger?’ and it didn’t,” Ettner said.

He added that corn stocks were going to be very large simply because of the size of the 2025/26 harvest.

USDA Grain Stocks as of March 1 (Billions of bushels)

The post CBOT Weekly: USDA predicts declines in planting intentions appeared first on Country Guide.

As for the Canadian soybean crush, StatCan has not published any new data since it released its report for the July crush in August 2025. The agency said any numbers have been “suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act.”

The post February canola crush up from 2025, StatCan reports appeared first on Country Guide.