Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– Seeding delays in Western Canada could see more area shift into oats, which need a shorter growing season and minimal inputs compared to other options. However, with many fields still unharvested from last year, a tipping point will eventually be reached when nothing will be seeded at all in some areas. In […] Read more
Prairie oats at tipping point
Ag census logs more younger and female farm operators
Reading Time: 3 minutes While people age 55 and over still make up the fastest-growing segment of farmers in Canada, the latest Census of Agriculture shows slightly more producers under age 35 for the first time in five censuses. Statistics Canada’s 2016 Census of Agriculture, released Wednesday, counted 271,935 farm operators — that is, people who make management decisions […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Tight supplies keep canola supported
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts were up and down during the week ended Wednesday, although the nearby bias could still be pointed higher, according to a market analyst. Statistics Canada is forecasting record canola seedings in 2017 of 22.4 million acres, but Wayne Palmer of Agri-Trend Marketing in Winnipeg said actual seeded […] Read more
How’s the crop?
That’s the question that StatsCanada asks 10,000 farmers, but increasingly, the grain trade doesn’t believe the answers
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s become a predictable pattern. Statistics Canada releases a crop estimate. Reporters call traders and analysts for reaction, who inevitably say it’s either too high or too low. That reflects a general dissatisfaction with StatsCan’s time-consuming system of contacting 10,000 farmers to ask how their crop is doing. Replacing a survey-based crop report with technology-sourced […] Read more
StatsCan data confirm tight canola supplies
Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada — Grain and oilseed stocks data released Friday from Statistics Canada were bullish for canola and wheat — though analysts suggest the effects of the report on the market may be short-lived. Figures for barley, lentils and peas were above year-ago levels, but movements in those markets are more likely be driven by […] Read more
Sunflowers down, but not out in Western Canada
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Canadian sunflower plantings will be down in 2017, but perhaps not by as much as the official government estimate. Statistics Canada forecast the country’s sunflower area at only 50,000 acres in its planting intentions report. That would be down from 70,000 the previous year and the second-lowest acreage base of the past […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Canola waits for stocks report
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts continue to chop around in the lead-up to the release of a major report. Statistics Canada is due to release its estimates for the country’s canola stocks (as of March 31) on Friday. The dominant July contract eked out a minor gain of $1.30 per tonne during […] Read more
Canadian canola stocks seen dwindling to four-year low
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian stockpiles of canola dwindled to a four-year low ahead of planting season after brisk demand from crushers and exporters, but wheat supplies swelled, according to a Reuters survey of 12 traders and analysts. On Friday, Statistics Canada will estimate crop supplies as of March 31, 2017, from commercial and farm […] Read more
Mustard acres feeling squeeze from canola
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– Following the largest mustard crop in more than a decade in 2016, supply/demand fundamentals are expected to spur a reduction in Canadian mustard seedings in 2017. However, with more and more cropland moving into canola, mustard acreage increases may be limited in future years when supplies are tight again. After growing the […] Read more
Weather may put wrench in record-low summerfallow intentions
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada –– The amount of land left to summerfallow in Western Canada could hit a new record low in 2017, according to the latest Statistics Canada data, as the practice falls more and more out of favour. However, weather conditions still have the final say, with ‘unintended’ summerfallow a distinct possibility in 2017. Heading […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
