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

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


(4loops/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Peas, lentils may see slight movement

MarketsFarm — As the calendar changed to 2022, there was not much movement on pulse markets — but they weren’t entirely static, according to a Saskatchewan-based broker. “Yellow and green peas have been moving (lately), but as far as lentils and others, no,” said Dale McManus, broker for Johnston’s Grain at Welwyn, Sask. He attributed […] Read more

A look back at the year that was — from bad to verse

There’s not that much to celebrate — and so this ‘poetry’ you’ll just have to tolerate

Reading Time: 3 minutes Once again, a year’s passed and for better or worse We start a new one in doggerel — that’s badly rhymed verse We review the last year (which you could say was a hexed one) And give you some tips on what to do in the next one Now I’ve heard all the stories while […] Read more


Photo: File

Pulse weekly outlook: Transport issues, cold weather may affect prices

MarketsFarm – While significant price movement for pulses has been hard to find as 2022 approaches, major impacts can still be felt when it comes to supply chains. “This time of year, it is very quiet for farmers, processors, exporters, shipping and everything overall,” said Lionel Ector, president of Diefenbaker Spice & Pulse (DSP) in […] Read more

The province is behind when it comes to pulse processing — construction at the More Than Protein Ingredients site won’t start until spring while Roquette Canada’s Manitoba pea-processing plant (inset) is in final commissioning. But advocates say Alberta can still catch up.

Opportunity awaits: Will Alberta seize the day in pulse processing?

The province’s pulse sector saw setbacks and successes in 2021, but what happens next will be key

Reading Time: 6 minutes Pulse processing on the Prairies has come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go — especially here in Alberta. “If you’d asked me 10 years ago, I would have said, ‘Ten years from now, we shouldn’t be shipping yellow peas away.’ And here we are, still fractionating far too large a […] Read more


Both of these canola plants were sown on the same day, with this photo taken about four weeks later. The one on the right was grown in a regular greenhouse under natural 12-hour light.

When it comes to new varieties, there’s a need for speed, says breeder

Creating the equivalent of a 22-hour day can speed up variety development by six times

Reading Time: 4 minutes Combining ‘speed breeding’ with new genomic tools will be able to deliver big dividends for farmers in the coming years, says a plant breeder using the accelerated breeding technique. “It really highlights that we can bring these technologies together to improve genetic gain in the crops of the future,” said Lee Hickey, an associate professor […] Read more

Roquette’s pea processing plant near Portage la Prairie. (Photo courtesy Roquette Canada)

Pulse weekly outlook: New investments cause for optimism

Sector looking forward beyond challenges of 2021

MarketsFarm — Canada’s pulse industry had to endure more than its fair share of challenges and obstacles in 2021, domestic and abroad. Nevertheless, the national organization representing pulse growers, traders and processors feels the industry will be strong in the New Year. An already tight supply situation became tighter in 2021 as drought in Western […] Read more


(iStock photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Expect little movement in prices during holidays

MarketsFarm — There were no surprises for pulses in Statistics Canada’s latest production report, according to Marlene Boersch of Mercantile Venture Consulting in Winnipeg. With that in mind, she doesn’t expect any significant price changes for pulses. “Part of the reason is we’re starting to glide into the holiday period. We’ll probably see some movement […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola declines, durum drops in new StatsCan estimates

Soybean, oats estimates raised

MarketsFarm — There were very few surprises in Statistics Canada’s latest principal field crop production estimates released Friday — the first in 2021-22 to use a survey of producers. Nevertheless, they quantified just how severe last summer’s drought was in Western Canada. Canola production for the 2021-22 marketing year was estimated to be 12.595 million […] Read more