(Dave Bedard photo)

Larger Canadian crops predicted in AAFC’s first 2022 outlook

MarketsFarm — A return to trend-line yields after the past year’s drought should lead to a significant increase in Canadian crop production in 2022, according to the first supply/demand estimates for the 2022-23 season from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released late Friday. Seeded area is expected to be up for wheat and the pulses, […] Read more

ICE March 2022 canola (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Choppy canola trade expected

Old-crop 'likely pushing the upper limits'

MarketsFarm — A speculative selloff weighed heavily on the ICE Futures canola market during the week ended Wednesday, before the selling subsided and prices regained much of their lost ground. “For prices this high, that’s pretty routine stuff,” said Ken Ball of PI Financial in Winnipeg on the $80 per tonne drop in the nearby […] Read more


Federated Co-operatives in November 2021 secured an option on this land north of its Co-op Refinery Complex at Regina. (FCL.crs)

Co-op, AGT plan to crush canola at Regina

Crusher would feed FCL's planned renewable diesel plant

Federated Co-operatives’ plans for a renewable diesel processing plant at Regina now also include processing the canola oil needed to supply that plant. Federated Co-op (FCL) on Monday announced a memo of understanding has been signed with Regina grain and pulse crop processor AGT Foods on a joint venture that will “look to construct” a […] Read more

ICE March 2022 canola (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (yellow line) and November 2022 canola (green line, left column). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Despite declines, signs point to increases for canola

MarketsFarm — Although old-crop canola was falling back midway through the week of Jan. 10, analyst David Derwin of PI Financial in Winnipeg said the oilseed should “grind higher” in weeks to come. “The fundamentals haven’t changed at all — they’re not going to get more canola out of the ground until the fall,” he […] Read more


Having proven gene editing can produce shorter canola that would be subject to less lodging, U of Calgary researchers are now using this cutting-edge technology to reduce pod shatter and boost protein content in canola, says Professor Marcus Samuel.

Gene editing produces breakthrough canola variety

Shorter, highly branched canola plants with more pods show the power of the cutting-edge technology

Reading Time: 4 minutes University of Calgary researchers have used gene editing to bring to life a new shorter, highly branched variety of canola that has more pods and is easier to harvest. “Based on my conversations with some people in the agriculture industry — including primary producers — they would love to have a crop like this,” said […] Read more



This year’s gross dollars figures for peas, oats and canola were well above those from a year ago.

Gross revenue tally provides ‘interesting’ take on drought impact

If you had average yields and captured high fall prices, your per-acre revenue might have gone up

Reading Time: 2 minutes It won’t be of any comfort for those who had a wreck this year, but high prices mean gross revenue for most crops may have been as good or better for some compared to last year, according to a provincial market analyst. “Using the average yields and prices, there is a significant offset of the […] Read more

ICE March 2022 canola (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola strength shows no signs of fading

MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts started the new year on a firm footing, with little sign that the ongoing strength will end anytime soon. “Is canola expensive? Yes, but everything is expensive,” said analyst Mike Jubinville of MarketsFarm. While canola may look overpriced by some metrics, he noted the high prices were necessary to […] Read more


Weeds like kochia, pictured here in lentils, got a competitive advantage from the hot, dry conditions this summer. And more seeds returning to the soil seed bank could boost weed pressure in the coming year.

Drought may have set up weeds nicely for 2022

And while disease levels dropped last year, they could easily come roaring back in 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutes This summer’s hot, dry conditions made weeds harder to manage this year — and that’s not good news for next year. “This year, precipitation was one of the biggest driving factors for what we saw showing up in fields,” said federal research scientist Charles Geddes. “We ended up seeing a lot more flushes of weeds […] Read more

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

Dreyfus chair owes US$240 million after ADQ deal

Stake sale's proceeds going to repay loan

Paris | Reuters — Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, chairperson and main shareholder of Louis Dreyfus Co., borrowed about $240 million from Credit Suisse in a reduced loan arrangement following the sale of a stake in LDC, an annual company report showed. Louis-Dreyfus told Swiss business magazine Bilanz in late 2020 she planned to use the proceeds of […] Read more