MarketsFarm — Despite temperatures ranging from near-freezing lows to sweltering highs and receiving little precipitation, Manitoba’s dry edible bean crop has weathered the conditions well, according to the province’s pulse specialist. “We’ve had some interesting weather over the last week to two weeks,” Dennis Lange, pulse specialist for Manitoba Agriculture at Altona, said, referring to […] Read more

Pulse weekly outlook: Manitoba dry beans in good shape

Nutrien to further bump up potash output
'Continued tightening' in market cited as potash producer Belarus sanctioned
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian fertilizer producer Nutrien said Monday it would boost its 2021 potash output by 500,000 tonnes, after the European Union and others imposed new trade sanctions on Belarus. Nutrien’s increase takes its potash sales outlook this year to a record-high range of 13.3 million to 13.8 million tonnes, and follows a […] Read more

Indigenous-led ag projects get federal funding
Funding to support business planning and other studies
Sixteen projects to help support Indigenous-led food system initiatives will receive $4 million from the federal government. “Our government is working to create a more inclusive agriculture sector that respects the values of Indigenous Peoples,” Agriculture Minister Marie Claude Bibeau said in a statement Friday. “These investments are intended to ensure that Indigenous Peoples have […] Read more

College farms, GFM Discovery Farm to get smarter together
Two Alberta colleges sign on for new CAAIN-backed network
A pair of Alberta college farms and Glacier FarmMedia’s Saskatchewan farm are the first to plug into a national network of “smart farms” to improve the ag sector’s smart technology experience. The Olds College Smart Farm will lead the Pan-Canadian Smart Farm Network, which will also include Glacier FarmMedia Discovery Farm at Langham, Sask. and […] Read more

Clean ag tech adoption fund open for applications
Intake open and ongoing for Agricultural Clean Technology Program
A federal program farmers can use to invest in “cleaner” on-farm equipment — including money specifically for more efficient grain dryers — is now taking applications. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced the $165.7 million Agricultural Clean Technology Program is “now open to applicants.” First launched in 2018 and earmarked for expansion under […] Read more

A great year for the bottom line of grain farmers
Farm income rose by half a billion in Alberta last year — although our neighbour did even better
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farm income in Alberta took a hefty jump last year, but nothing compared to our next-door neighbour. Net cash income rose by 15 per cent in Alberta to $3.9 billion, which is a $447-million increase from 2019. But in Saskatchewan, net cash income skyrocketed to $6.4 billion — a whopping 78 per cent increase of […] Read more

Pulse weekly outlook: Timely rains benefitting Saskatchewan crops
MarketsFarm — As with crops across the Prairies, pulses in Saskatchewan got a much timely shot in the arm with recent rainfall, according to Carl Potts, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. “I think pulse crops have benefitted from the rains we’ve had over the last two or three weeks here in the province,” he […] Read more

Richardson building new southwestern Saskatchewan elevator
On-site crop inputs facility to follow
Winnipeg grain firm Richardson International has started work on a new high-throughput grain elevator in southwestern Saskatchewan, to be bookended by smaller elevators it already operates in the region. The company said Monday it began construction work earlier this month at Carmichael, about 65 km southwest of Swift Current, about three km south of the […] Read more

What can you grow if root rot kicks out peas and lentils?
You may need an eight-year break between those crops, but there are some other pulses to consider
Reading Time: 5 minutes With aphanomyces threatening peas and lentils, what can producers do to keep pulses in the rotation? Pulse growers are being urged to go up to eight years between plantings of either peas or lentils, which dominate pulse acres in the province. “Our susceptible crops are pea and lentil and, to a lesser extent, dry bean. […] Read more

Bowden pulse-processing plant still a go, says new CEO
Investors are being lined up but some ‘milestones’ need to be met for fractionation facility to proceed
Reading Time: 5 minutes Despite recent setbacks, a proposed pulse-fractionating plant near Bowden is moving ahead under new management. The prospect for the facility was thrown into doubt when W.A. Grain & Pulse Solutions was placed into receivership in April. However, prior to that, the Innisfail company, which had spent five years planning the facility and trying to get it off the ground, […] Read more