File photo of a rapeseed field in Iwate prefecture in northeastern Honshu, Japan. (Nattya3714/iStock.Getty Images)

USDA reports offer new oilseed insights from India, Japan

MarketsFarm — The Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its weekly Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) reports on Wednesday, including new information regarding oilseeds in India and Japan. Oilseed production in India is projected to increase by one per cent at 42.1 million tonnes in 2022-23, according to FAS New […] Read more


(Alfio Manciagli/iStock/Getty Images)

Australian canola production heading downward, but still sizeable

New second-biggest harvest expected, USDA predicts

MarketsFarm — Despite canola production in Australia being set to drop 26 per cent in 2022-23, the country’s farmers are still projected to harvest the second largest crop, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s attaché in Canberra. In the attaché’s report, released Monday, canola production for the coming crop year was projected to be […] Read more

(File photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Canola exports turn tiny as Canada running out

MarketsFarm — There was a tremendous drop in canola exports from Canada during week 34 of the 2021-22 marketing year, according to the Canadian Grain Commission. The commission’s report issued Thursday showed a mere 800 tonnes of canola were shipped overseas. The week before, 128,300 tonnes were outbound. “We’re really getting close to running out,” […] Read more


AFSC used this photo when tweeting on social media about its rate announcement for this year. The ominous look mirrors the financial news — premiums up 37 per cent or more, and its once-vaunted reserve fund slashed by $2 billion.

Premiums soar after crop insurer hit by $2.7-billion loss

Higher crop prices are driving a big part of the 37 per cent (or higher) hike, but drought hit hard, too

Reading Time: 4 minutes The cost of annual crop insurance is soaring by an average of more than 37 per cent this year — and many farmers could be facing an even higher bill. “An average 1,500-acre Alberta farm growing a mixture of crops will see increased premium costs of approximately 54 per cent for annual insurance and hail […] Read more



Cabbage seedpod weevil 2021.

Seedpod weevil numbers down in 2021

Reading Time: < 1 minute Cabbage seedpod weevil numbers in 2021 were lower than normal for the fourth year in a row, but canola growers in southern and south-central Alberta should still be on guard. A survey of 225 fields last summer (when canola was at 20 to 25 per cent flower) found that even in the south, numbers were […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Saskatchewan budget aims to spur ag investment

Potash, crude oil resource revenues help cut deficit

Sweetening existing tax credits on big-ticket investments, and setting up a new Crown corporation to support Indigenous investors, are among the items expected to help encourage new value-added ag projects in Saskatchewan’s latest budget. Provincial Finance Minister Donna Harpauer on Wednesday released her 2022-23 budget with $17.6 billion in expenditures on $17.2 billion in revenues, […] Read more


ICE May 2022 canola (candlesticks, right column) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines) and NYMEX May 2022 WTI crude oil (grey line, left column). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Strong canola market to ‘see both sides of rainbow’

MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts climbed to their highest levels ever during the week ended Wednesday before running into some profit-taking resistance. Its general uptrend remains intact for the time being, but a downturn is also inevitable. The nearby May canola contract hit a session high of $1,177.80 per tonne on Wednesday, before backing […] Read more

Get a tax credit on checkoffs

Get a tax credit on checkoffs

Reading Time: < 1 minute Crop commissions are reminding growers that they can get a tax credit for their checkoffs. The Scientific Research and Experimental Development Fund (SR&ED) program is based on the percentage of a checkoff that is used for crop research and development — an amount that varies for each crop. For barley, every $100 in 2021 checkoffs […] Read more