“We’ve learned so much from each other,” says Jackie Dudgeon. Maybe neighbourliness isn’t gone, just changed.

Better neighbours

In an era of bigger, busier operations, are farmers still paragons of neighbourliness?

Reading Time: 6 minutes Neighbourliness is stitched into the fabric of rural Canada. It always has been. In fact, as Dr. Catharine Wilson, professor of history at the University of Guelph might put it, “reciprocal labour” is what paved the way for our farming success. “I don’t think we can overstate how important neighbours were,” says Wilson. It isn’t […] Read more

(Bondarillia/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Pulse stocks drop due to drought

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada’s latest report on stocks of principal field crops clearly demonstrated how much of an effect last summer’s historic drought in Western Canada had on pulse crops. According to the report released Tuesday, last December’s total domestic stocks for dry peas, chickpeas, lentils and soybeans all declined from the year earlier. Those […] Read more


(iStock photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Expect little movement in prices during holidays

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — There were no surprises for pulses in Statistics Canada’s latest production report, according to Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Venture Consulting in Winnipeg. With that in mind, she doesn’t expect any significant price changes for pulses. “Part of the reason is we’re starting to glide into the holiday period. We’ll probably see some movement […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola declines, durum drops in new StatsCan estimates

Soybean, oats estimates raised

Reading Time: 3 minutes MarketsFarm — There were very few surprises in Statistics Canada’s latest principal field crop production estimates released Friday — the first in 2021-22 to use a survey of producers. Nevertheless, they quantified just how severe last summer’s drought was in Western Canada. Canola production for the 2021-22 marketing year was estimated to be 12.595 million […] Read more


Photo: daoleduc/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Canada economy seen weaker than expected as supply chain woes weigh

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters – The Canadian economy most likely underperformed expectations in the third quarter amid ongoing supply chain woes and a brutal drought, official data suggested on Friday, prompting analysts to forecast the Bank of Canada could move slower on rate hikes. The economy expanded by 0.4 percent in August, missing estimates, and looked […] Read more

One Canada Square (tower at centre) houses the London head office of the International Grains Council. (Iliffd/iStock/Getty Images)

Grains council tweaks numbers in latest supply and demand data

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The International Grains Council (IGC) released its monthly supply and demand report Thursday, projecting a six million-tonne increase in total global grain production at 2.289 billion tonnes in 2021-22. That change consisted of a seven million-tonne increase in global corn production, offset by a one million-tonne decrease in world wheat output. Soybean production […] Read more


(Vonkara1/E+/Getty Images)

Interview: Counting crops in advance

Reviewing the latest from StatsCan and USDA

Reading Time: < 1 minute Statistics Canada on Tuesday released new model-based estimates for the country’s principal field crops, projecting “substantial” yield declines for most of the major crops grown in Canada, due mainly to drought conditions across much of Western Canada during much of the growing season. The previous Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its latest world […] Read more

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

ICE weekly outlook: Canola remains rangebound

Trade predicts even smaller production

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — At least for the foreseeable future, ICE Futures canola is likely to remain rangebound, according to analyst David Derwin of PI Financial in Winnipeg. The November canola contract has support at $850 per tonne and when it bumps up to around $900 it’s quickly pulled back, he said. “Sideways is not very exciting, […] Read more


CBOT December 2021 wheat (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, orange and dark green lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Wheat firms on global supply cuts

Corn inches higher as U.S. crop ratings decline

Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures firmed two per cent on Tuesday, strengthened by global supply concerns amid strong demand, while a weaker U.S. dollar supported U.S. trade. Corn inched higher after a weekly decline in U.S crop conditions reported by the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA). Soybeans traded both sides of even before easing […] Read more

File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Small Canadian crops lead to marketing shift

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canadian pulse markets could see a ‘radical shift’ in the current crop year as drought conditions led to sharp reductions in pea and lentil production. Statistics Canada’s September principal field crop estimates, released Tuesday, and the previous report on Aug. 30 were determined by yield models using satellite imagery. MarketsFarm Pro analyst Mike […] Read more