(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola, wheat acres in opposite trends before StatsCan report

'Every commodity was offering options that were profitable'

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Just days prior to Statistics Canada issuing its latest survey-based crop acreage report on Tuesday next week, analysts are estimating a rise in canola acres at the expense of wheat. “Coming through the winter and towards spring seeding, we were looking at canola prices that were at their highest levels of all time,” […] Read more

ICE July 2021 canola (candlesticks) with 20-day movjng average (green line), ICE November 2021 canola (yellow line) and CBOT July 2021 soybeans (black line, left column). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Weather, carryout support canola

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — As higher-than-normal temperatures become almost a weekly occurrence in Western Canada amidst tightening carryout stocks, canola seems primed for another extended rally. Despite rains in Western Canada over the past three weeks, providing some relief for canola crops and triggering fund liquidation on the markets, carryout remains very low, with warmer temperatures exacerbating […] Read more


Flea beetles in canola seedlings. (Canola Council of Canada video screengrab via YouTube)

Flea beetles a nuisance for canola crop

Reading Time: 2 minutes [UPDATED: June 22, 2021] MarketsFarm — Western Canada’s canola crop has been hit hard by hot, dry weather so far this growing season in the midst of ongoing drought conditions — which may also be aiding another threat. *Across the Prairies, flea beetles are an oft-seen pest that feeds on both canola and mustard seedlings, […] Read more



ICE November 2021 canola (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and July 2021 canola (yellow open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola market pits weather against supplies

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — As dry conditions remained prevalent across the Canadian Prairies and U.S. northern Plains, despite recent precipitation, the markets were in a struggle between the weather and tightening supplies, according to Winnipeg analyst Wayne Palmer of Exceed Grain. So far for the week of June 7, central and northern Alberta received rain, followed by […] Read more

The major risk factor for sclerotinia in your canola fields will always be moisture.

Capturing spores in the fight against sclerotinia

You don’t need to guess at sclerotinia infection potential in your canola crop — three tests are available

Reading Time: 5 minutes Sclerotinia stem rot is the most yield-damaging canola disease in Western Canada, yet payback on fungicide hinges on a “yes” to these three questions: Is canopy moisture through flowering sufficient for high levels of infection? Is yield potential high enough to provide a return? Are the spores present?  The answer to question one depends on […] Read more


Flush farmers have a reputation for reinvesting in their operations, which has a positive impact on the economy. (Luca Piccini Basile/iStock/Getty Images)

StatsCan shows 2020 farm income up significantly

Farm cash receipts were up more than expenses

Reading Time: 4 minutes Canadian farm income, no matter how it’s measured, was up a lot in 2020, data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada show. Canadian net farm income of $18.1 billion is up $4.8 billion from 2019 — a 36.5 per cent increase. Another measure — realized net farm income (RNFI) — saw farmers take in $9.9 billion, […] Read more

ICE November 2021 canola (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (yellow line) and CBOT December 2021 soyoil (green line, left column). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Swings ahead for canola

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — If anything is certain for canola values, it’s that they are going to be swingy for the next while, according to Ken Ball of PI Financial in Winnipeg. Canola bids, especially new-crop, have been on the downswing lately, largely due to precipitation the Prairies recently received. While the resulting moisture won’t rectify the […] Read more


A view of Ceres Global Ag’s Northgate, Sask. facility as seen from its fertilizer shed in 2018. (Grainews photo by Lisa Guenther)

Ceres plans southern Saskatchewan canola crush plant

U.S. firm to build plant at border grain terminal

Reading Time: 3 minutes U.S. ag commodities firm Ceres Global Ag, which in recent years has built up a Prairie grain and oilseed origination hub near the North Dakota border in southeastern Saskatchewan, now plans to crush canola there also. The Minneapolis company said Tuesday it plans to spend US$350 million to build an integrated crush plant with capacity […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Dry weather may cut into Canadian crop prospects, AAFC says

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Dry weather conditions across Western Canada could cut into production prospects in the region, according to updated supply/demand tables released Thursday by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “Extremely dry conditions prevail in large parts of Western Canada, allowing for rapid seeding progress which is trending ahead of normal; however, timely precipitation this spring and […] Read more