An adult lygus bug. (Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Matador, Voliam insecticides back in ‘limited’ release

Revised labels prohibit feeding, foraging of treated crops

Syngenta Canada no longer plans to keep its lambda-cyhalothrin insecticide products off the market in Western Canada this year — but it’s planning to have a smaller supply. The crop chem and seed company announced Friday it will have a “limited amount” of its lambda-cy-based products Matador 120EC and Voliam Xpress available in the West […] Read more

“Any time you’ve got the provincial government telling us how much money we can make, then you know you have a problem.”

Usual suspects top the list in profitability forecast

But on many operations, the bottom line may depend heavily on when you bought fertilizer

Reading Time: 3 minutes Peas could rival or even beat canola and wheat as a money-maker this year, but oats are likely to be a big disappointment, according to this year’s provincial profitability forecast. The good news is that nearly every major crop in all five major soil zones is estimated to be a money maker, before fixed costs […] Read more


Provincial officials have calculated numbers for every major soil zone. But be forewarned — the cost of inputs is frighteningly high.

Highlights from this year’s crop forecast

There aren’t a lot of surprises but much of the forecast hinges on the cost of growing a crop

Reading Time: 2 minutes Want to hit a home run this year? Grow kabuli chickpeas. But only if you farm in the brown soil zone. That pulse crop holds the No. 1 spot in this year’s forecast from the provincial agriculture department with an anticipated profit (before fixed costs and rent) of $347 an acre — if there’s a […] Read more

ICE July 2023 canola with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Weather to influence canola price movement

Short-covering seen supporting front months for now

MarketsFarm — Canola contracts on the ICE Futures platform held relatively rangebound during the week ended Wednesday, trading within a $20 per tonne range in most months as market participants wait to get a better handle on new-crop prospects. “There’s some concern developing on seeding delays,” said Jamie Wilton of RJ O’Brien in Winnipeg, adding […] Read more


Keith Gabert, pictured here at a 2015 workshop, has long been an advocate of the Keep It Clean program.

Spring’s a good time for preventing residue snafus, say agronomists

Customers are watching and will be checking that Keep It Clean protocols are being followed

Reading Time: 2 minutes Most Alberta growers are on top of their pesticide choices and crop storage, says an Alberta agronomist. But even the most astute farmer can have blind spots and should be periodically checking the Keep It Clean website, said Keith Gabert, an Innisfail-based agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. He points to malathion in […] Read more

File photo of a rapeseed field in India. (Amlanmathur/iStock/Getty Images)

India’s rapeseed output to be steady

El Nino may be a spoiler

MarketsFarm — Rapeseed production in India has been forecast to remain quite consistent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) attaché in New Delhi. The attaché projected rapeseed production for 2023-24 to hold at 11.5 million tonnes, the same in 2022-23. USDA’s official numbers placed India as the world’s No. 4 producer of rapeseed, […] Read more


Alberta Wheat would have liked to see a greater focus on markets and the grain business in the federal government’s new Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Is there too much green in the new ag funding deal?

The environment is a big focus of new deal; income and marketing not so much

Reading Time: 4 minutes The new $508-million agriculture funding deal between Ottawa and the provincial government is getting mixed reviews. “Overall it’s a pretty good framework,” said Alberta Canola vice-chair Ian Chitwood. “From Alberta Canola’s perspective, we really support it. It’s a pretty well-rounded suite of programs so I think it’s going to be good for producers.” But as […] Read more

ICE November 2023 canola with Bollinger bands (20,2) and May 2023 canola (black line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: New-crop November canola set to step back

StatCan not expected to sway futures much

MarketsFarm — There is presently little upside to new-crop November canola on ICE Futures, according to analyst Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. Anderson pointed to losses in Malaysian palm oil and weakness in China’s soymeal market as weighing on ICE canola values, with more pressure coming out of South America. “The [soybean] production […] Read more


Louis Dreyfus’ oilseed processing plant at Yorkton, Sask. (LDC.com)

Louis Dreyfus expanding Yorkton canola crush plant

New expansion would more than double plant's capacity

Louis Dreyfus’ Yorkton, Sask. canola crushing plant is about to undergo another major expansion. The project, announced Tuesday, is expected to add an additional canola crushing line and more than double the plant’s annual capacity to over two million tonnes upon completion. Construction is due to begin later this year. The crush plant, built in […] Read more

(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Canola fund short position shrinking

Managed money is net long on corn, soy

MarketsFarm — Managed money fund traders continued to cover their large short positions in canola in early April, according to the latest Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As of April 4, the net managed money short position in canola futures came in at 49,470 contracts (70,671 short; 21,201 […] Read more