CNS Canada — Canadian farmers could be set to seed record-large canola acres in 2017, while wheat area is generally expected to be down on the year when Statistics Canada releases its first survey-based acreage estimates of the year on Friday. From a purely economic standpoint, “canola is historically the commodity that pays the bills,” […] Read more

Trade sees record Canadian canola acres as possibility

Alberta to restore non-refundable checkoff option
Alberta’s farmed-commodity commissions may soon be able to make their checkoffs non-refundable again if their producer members are willing. The provincial government on Tuesday tabled amendments to the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act (MAPA) which would grant each of the province’s 13 agricultural commissions the ability to determine whether their checkoffs should be refundable or […] Read more

Krispy Kreme owner to buy bakery chain Panera Bread
Reuters — JAB Holdings, the owner of Caribou Coffee and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, said Wednesday it would buy bakery chain Panera Bread for US$7.2 billion, as it expands its coffee and breakfast empire through the biggest-ever U.S. restaurant deal. JAB, the investment vehicle of Germany’s billionaire Reimann family, has built up an empire of coffee […] Read more

Yorkton, Sask. oat plant moves on major expansion
U.S. processing firm Grain Millers Inc. is pressing ahead on the second phase of a previously announced expansion at its Yorkton, Sask. oat processing plant. The company on Friday announced the “initiation” of the second phase of the expansion, which overall is expected to cost $100 million and boost the plant’s annual output by 80,000 […] Read more

Tax treatment of deferred grain cash tickets under review
Grain growers in Canada who take deferred cash purchase tickets for crops are being asked whether it’s time to get rid of the rule that allows income from those tickets to be put off to the following tax year. Tucked into federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s budget on Wednesday was an announcement of public consultation, […] Read more

Canada Bread buys into organic craft bread market
A Toronto baking firm that grows and contracts its own organic grains in eastern Ontario is going to be an entry point in the craft bread market for Canada Bread. Canada Bread, the Canadian arm of Mexican baking giant Grupo Bimbo, announced Monday it had completed its deal to buy Stonemill Bakehouse Ltd. for an […] Read more

Adviser urges farmers to give up their sinful ways
Trying to hit the market peak, getting angry about mistakes, and putting off marketing chores are three of the seven ‘sins’ of selling your crop
Reading Time: 3 minutes While many grain growers came to FarmTech looking for insight on where markets may be headed in the coming year, Brian Voth challenged those attending his sessions with a different perspective on the game. Lured in by his title of ‘The Seven Deadly(ish) Sins of Grain Marketing,’ attendees soon found the Manitoba-based market adviser wasn’t […] Read more

What will make you money this year?
Reading Time: < 1 minute AgriProfit$ Cropping Alternatives has been updated for 2017. The crop-budgeting tool allows producers to project costs, margins and break-even yields for potential cropping choices. The data is presented by soil zones, with a mix of cereals, oilseeds, pulses and forage crops for each zone. Crop budgets include a projection of individual itemized variable costs as […] Read more

Wheat disease risk sees farmers looking to oats
CNS Canada — Canadian farmers are showing an increased interest in seeding oats this spring, despite a lack of activity from a pricing standpoint, as quality concerns in wheat and barley have growers looking to other cereals. “We are seeing a huge influx of acres into oats,” said Scott Shiels, grain procurement merchant with Grain […] Read more

Don’t delay if you haven’t lined up seed
All that rain last year has elevated fusarium levels and lowered germination rates
Reading Time: 3 minutes The quality of cereal seed in Alberta is down — and disease pressure is up — across almost all classes, say players at the front lines of the upcoming growing season’s seed outlook. “Disease levels are a little higher this year and that’s having an adverse effect on quality,” said Trevor Nysetvold of BioVision, a […] Read more