CBOT July 2021 corn (blue high/low/close) and CBOT July 2021 wheat (red HLC). (Barchart)

Feed weekly outlook: Falling futures suggest first cracks in lofty market

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — A sharp drop in corn and wheat futures prices at the Chicago Board of Trade over the past week could be the sign of the first cracks in the western Canadian feed grain market. That said, tight supplies and uncertainty over new-crop grain production remain supportive. “With the move on the futures market […] Read more



Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Drought Monitor map for the Prairie provinces as of April 30, 2021. (AAFC)

‘Extreme drought’ expands in Prairies

Southern Manitoba, southeastern Saskatchewan parched

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The newly released map from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM) shows the Prairies’ ongoing drought getting worse. According to AAFC’s nationwide map released on Friday, southwestern Manitoba, parts of southern Saskatchewan and the southeast corner of Alberta are under CDM’s classification of Extreme (D3) drought as of April 30. Communities […] Read more

Prairies hit hard by drought

Prairies hit hard by drought

Parts of south-central, southwestern Manitoba among driest

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — A new nationwide drought map released by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM) shows just how dry conditions are in the Prairies, especially in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Areas in southern Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan have experienced at least six months of drought conditions, according to CDM’s drought assessment as of March […] Read more


ICE May 2021 canola with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola fundamentals still strong in volatile market

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts moved higher during the week ended Wednesday, with the largest gains in the old-crop months amid ongoing concerns over tight supplies. Day-to-day activity could remain volatile at times, but underlying fundamentals should remain supportive heading into the 2021 growing season, according to an analyst. While canola futures have traded […] Read more

(Serts/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Lentil values mainly steady

'There’s no fire in the lentil belly, that’s for sure'

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — There hasn’t been much change in lentil prices over the last week and at least one marketer expects there likely won’t be any when it comes to the amount of lentils that Canadian farmers plant in 2021. “[Lentil prices] are just softer than what they were. There’s no fire in the lentil belly, […] Read more


Snow cover in southern Manitoba has been sparse this winter, as shown across this field east of Starbuck, Man. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

Wet or dry spring ahead? Depends on where in Canada

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — There will be increased in risk of flooding this spring in British Columbia, western Alberta and parts of Eastern Canada, according to a report Friday from AccuWeather. Meanwhile, dry conditions are expected to continue across the Prairies. AccuWeather’s report forecasts below-normal temperatures for B.C. and western Alberta going into spring. That could delay […] Read more

Forecast probability of precipitation above, below and near normal for the period from February through April 2021, based on three equiprobable categories from 1981-2010 climatology. Map produced Jan. 31, 2021. (Map: Environment and Climate Change Canada)

Long-range forecast points to cool, wet spring for northern Prairies

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Central and northern agricultural regions of Saskatchewan and Alberta are forecast to see cooler-than-normal temperatures with above-average precipitation over the next three months, according the latest long-range outlook from Environment Canada. The department’s latest seasonal weather maps, dated Sunday, show a 40-50 per cent chance of above-normal precipitation across most of the northern […] Read more


Snow and ice cover in North America as of Nov. 22, 2020. (NOAA.gov)

Most of Prairies already covered in snow

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Most of the Canadian Prairies were already blanked in snow by late November, with the deepest snowpack in Alberta and Saskatchewan, according to data compiled by Environment Canada and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Aside from the Rocky Mountains and some areas around the Great Lakes, the U.S. was largely […] Read more

Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the southern Pacific for the week centred on Sept, 30, 2020. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

La Nina to bring colder, drier winter

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — There’s a La Nina poised to exert influence on the coming North American winter, according to Drew Lerner, senior agricultural meteorologist for World Weather Inc. in Kansas. A La Nina generates colder-than-normal temperatures, as opposed to the warm temperatures garnered from an El Nino. Both weather phenomenon can be found over the Pacific […] Read more