MarketsFarm — Just days prior to Statistics Canada issuing its latest survey-based crop acreage report on Tuesday next week, analysts are estimating a rise in canola acres at the expense of wheat. “Coming through the winter and towards spring seeding, we were looking at canola prices that were at their highest levels of all time,” […] Read more
Canola, wheat acres in opposite trends before StatsCan report
'Every commodity was offering options that were profitable'
Test weight calculators available for grain
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Grain Commission is offering a new online tool “to help producers quickly and accurately determine the volume and test weight of their grain.” The test weight calculators make it easier to calculate the test weight in three commonly used units of measurement: kilograms per hectolitre (kg/ hl), pounds per Avery bushel (lbs./bu.-A), and […] Read more
Potash partnership with BHP ‘not our focus,’ Nutrien executive says
Prices surging on rising demand, Belarus sanctions
Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian potash producer Nutrien is not focused on any potential collaboration with miner BHP Group, a senior Nutrien executive said Tuesday in the company’s first public comments about reports of possible co-operation. BHP has for years been constructing a potash mine at Jansen, Sask., near Nutrien’s six mines in the province. […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Manitoba dry beans in good shape
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
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