Verticillium stripe and blackleg symptoms can look similar, but once you know what you’re looking for, they can be quickly differentiated.

Researchers study verticillium yield losses

Team behind blackleg and clubroot yield loss models tackles new canola disease

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canola industry leaders have been worried about verticillium stripe and its impact on crop yields for several years. Reports out of Europe suggest the fungal disease could cause losses of 10 to 50 percent on oilseed rape. However, extreme losses are usually confined to a small number of fields in England and […] Read more


Rob Duncan, a canola breeder at the University of Manitoba, used genomic selection to design these canola plants. Breeders can select desired traits from across the entire canola genome.

Genome selection finds next canola superstars

Sequencing the canola genome in 2014 paved the way for researchers to be more precise when developing new varieties

Reading Time: 7 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – In the 2020 Western Hockey League bantam draft, the Regina Pats had the first overall pick. They selected Connor Bedard. It was an easy pick and a good one. Bedard recorded 100 points in the 2021-22 WHL season and 143 points last year. In June, the Chicago Blackhawks selected Bedard with the […] Read more

‘It’s unlikely that anyone with a cursory understanding of basic economics would seriously deride the investment of a few bucks into research for the canola sector today, but in the early years, it wasn’t a sure bet.’ – Gord Gilmour.

Opinion: Setting research priorities a complex puzzle

Could the canola story happen today in an era of ‘research clusters’?

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – It’s often observed that from tiny acorns, mighty oaks grow. Nowhere in the western Canadian agriculture scene is this truer than in the canola sector. When one pauses to reflect, one can only marvel at what has happened. A relatively obscure crop, grown largely as a machine lubricant, was transformed into one […] Read more


(Screengrab from Merit Functional Foods video via YouTube)

Merit Foods pays off operating lender, no deal yet for plant

Plant-based protein processor in receivership since March

A Winnipeg pea and canola protein processor in receivership since this spring remains mothballed for now with no firm buyer — but has paid off one of its three secured creditors. Merit Functional Foods, which entered receivership March 1 after just two years’ operation, has sold all its remaining finished and raw inventory and directed […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola prices could rebound

'There's nothing all that exciting to look at'

MarketsFarm — Winnipeg-based trader Ken Ball from PI Financial is cautiously optimistic that canola prices can rebound in the short term. The January canola contract closed at $702.30 per tonne on Wednesday a weekly loss of $7.40. The contract fell below the $700 level on U.S. Thanksgiving on Nov. 23, a day with little volume. […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Speculators buy back bearish canola bets in latest report

Funds reduce net long in soybeans

MarketsFarm — Fund traders were actively covering bearish bets in canola during the week ended Nov. 21, buying back some previously placed short positions, according to the latest Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The report was delayed due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. As of Nov. 21, 2023, […] Read more

ICE January 2024 canola with 20- and 200-day moving averages and nine-day exponential moving average. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Purely technical canola market trending up

Activity expected thin until next week

MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market moved within a wide range during the week ended Wednesday, hitting some of its best levels in a month before running into resistance at the highs. With traders in the United States moving to the sidelines for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, activity should be thin and choppy until […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Large speculative short position in canola dips slightly

Net long in CBOT soybeans increases

MarketsFarm — The large managed money short position in canola futures dipped slightly during the week ended Nov. 14, as speculators bought back some of their bearish bets, according to the latest Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As of Nov. 14, the net managed money short position in […] Read more

Canadian Agriculture and Agrifood Minister, Lawrence McCauley (right) and CCC vice president, crop production and innovation, Curtis Rempel at the funding announcement at the Bruce D. Campbell Farm and Food Discovery Centre at Glenlea, Man.
 Photo: Don Norman

Canola sector gets research boost

The federal government is putting up $9 million to drive the sustainable growth of Canada’s canola sector. The funding comes from the AgriScience Program—Clusters Component, an initiative under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership and was announced today (Nov. 14) in Winnipeg by Lawrence MacAulay, the federal agriculture minister. “This new Canola Cluster will build on […] Read more