Davos, Switzerland | Reuters — Norwegian fertilizer giant Yara says donors urgently need to close the U.N.’s $10 billion food programme funding gap to avoid a catastrophe as sanctions on Russian fertilizers and Ukraine’s grain export problems have created an extreme global shock. “The world has realized that food can be a weapon and it […] Read more
Fertilizer maker Yara says world faces extreme food supply shock
Sanctions cut global fertilizer supply 15 per cent, company says
Pulse weekly outlook: AAFC projects normal yields, increased pulse production
MarketsFarm — A return to yields closer to long-range averages will result in greater production for most pulse crops in 2022-23, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s monthly outlook for principal field crops released last Friday. Many of the projections are based on the assumption that normal weather conditions will return to most of the […] Read more
Good things come in threes as Alberta adds another pulse plant
New $225-million facility in Strathmore will be a major buyer of peas, venture's founder says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Another pulse processing facility is coming to Alberta, this time in the town of Strathmore. And the $225-million fractionation plant is going to need a lot of yellow peas from area producers — 40,000 tonnes annually, said Chris Theal, a Calgary oil patch veteran who founded Phyto Organix, and is the privately-held company’s CEO and […] Read more
Food crisis fuels fears of protectionism compounding shortages
Davos | Reuters — A growing world food crisis is precipitating protectionist moves by countries which are likely to compound the problem and could lead to a wider trade war, business leaders and policymakers at the World Economic Forum said. In a sign of the escalating squeeze on food supplies and rising prices, a government […] Read more
Planting progress picking up in Saskatchewan
MarketsFarm — Overall spring planting across Saskatchewan reached 33 per cent complete as of Monday, according to the latest weekly crop report from Saskatchewan Agriculture. Despite the good progress over the week, that’s still 20 points behind the five-year average. When compared to the excellent progress this time last year, the gap expands to 41 […] Read more
U.N. chief in talks on restoring Ukraine grain exports
Contact made amid global food crisis
United Nations | Reuters — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he is in “intense contact” with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States and the European Union in an effort to restore Ukrainian grain export as a global food crisis worsens. “I am hopeful, but there is still a way to go,” said […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Still early in season to switch crops
Decisions likely in next couple of weeks
MarketsFarm — With dry conditions dominating western and southwestern Saskatchewan and wet conditions prominent in the province’s east and northeast, at mid-May it remained early to consider switching pulse crops to something else, according to Carl Potts, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. Overall, he said, spring planting throughout the province as of May 9 […] Read more
Eastern Prairies’ wet conditions may curb insect pest risk
Late-seeded crops may germinate more quickly in warmer soils
MarketsFarm — If there could be one benefit to the excessive moisture across much of southern Manitoba and the Interlake region, that would be a potentially reduced risk for insect pests, according to John Gavloski, entomologist for Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Resource Development. For example, Gavloski cited flea beetles, which could damage canola. “If [canola] […] Read more
Schoepp: Our ag sector is a powerhouse but transport woes hold it back
Farmers are paying a big price because transportation infrastructure is not what it should be
Reading Time: 3 minutes Trains, planes and trucks are in constant motion to move Canadian agricultural commodities and value-added products across our massive country to ports for distribution around the world. Our farmers depend on a functioning infrastructure that includes road, rail and the sea. The more interruptions there are to the smooth and timely flow of goods, the […] Read more
Mildew scrapped as grading factor for No. 3 wheats
Grading changes also planned for canola admixture, splits in peas, excreta in mustard
The Canadian Grain Commission will change its standard samples for mildew in No. 1 and No. 2 wheats, and drop it as a grading factor for No. 3 wheats, effective this summer. The CGC on Monday laid out a list of changes to its grain grading policies and standards for wheat, canola, peas, beans and […] Read more