ICE July 2023 canola with 20-day moving average and November 2023 canola (yellow open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Expect canola to climb higher

Seeding reported underway in southern Alberta

MarketsFarm — As better-than-expected weather across the Canadian Prairies is very likely to spur on farmers to begin their spring seeding, the market is poised to push higher over the next couple of months, according to an analyst. “We have come down to the low end of the range,” said David Derwin, commodity futures advisor […] Read more

ICE July 2023 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: StatCan’s canola area estimate questioned

Traders predict significant increase ahead

MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada on Wednesday released its first survey-based seeding intentions report for the 2023-24 marketing year, reporting an anticipated 0.9 per cent rise in canola acres, to 21.6 million. The figure occupied the lower end of trade expectations, but StatCan recently adopted a new methodology of conducting the survey last December and January, […] Read more


ICE July 2023 canola with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Weather to influence canola price movement

Short-covering seen supporting front months for now

MarketsFarm — Canola contracts on the ICE Futures platform held relatively rangebound during the week ended Wednesday, trading within a $20 per tonne range in most months as market participants wait to get a better handle on new-crop prospects. “There’s some concern developing on seeding delays,” said Jamie Wilton of RJ O’Brien in Winnipeg, adding […] Read more

File photo of a rapeseed field in India. (Amlanmathur/iStock/Getty Images)

India’s rapeseed output to be steady

El Nino may be a spoiler

MarketsFarm — Rapeseed production in India has been forecast to remain quite consistent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) attaché in New Delhi. The attaché projected rapeseed production for 2023-24 to hold at 11.5 million tonnes, the same in 2022-23. USDA’s official numbers placed India as the world’s No. 4 producer of rapeseed, […] Read more


ICE November 2023 canola with Bollinger bands (20,2) and May 2023 canola (black line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: New-crop November canola set to step back

StatCan not expected to sway futures much

MarketsFarm — There is presently little upside to new-crop November canola on ICE Futures, according to analyst Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. Anderson pointed to losses in Malaysian palm oil and weakness in China’s soymeal market as weighing on ICE canola values, with more pressure coming out of South America. “The [soybean] production […] Read more

Louis Dreyfus’ oilseed processing plant at Yorkton, Sask. (LDC.com)

Louis Dreyfus expanding Yorkton canola crush plant

New expansion would more than double plant's capacity

Louis Dreyfus’ Yorkton, Sask. canola crushing plant is about to undergo another major expansion. The project, announced Tuesday, is expected to add an additional canola crushing line and more than double the plant’s annual capacity to over two million tonnes upon completion. Construction is due to begin later this year. The crush plant, built in […] Read more


(File photo by Dave Bedard)

Canola fund short position shrinking

Managed money is net long on corn, soy

MarketsFarm — Managed money fund traders continued to cover their large short positions in canola in early April, according to the latest Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As of April 4, the net managed money short position in canola futures came in at 49,470 contracts (70,671 short; 21,201 […] Read more

(Screengrab from Merit Functional Foods video via YouTube)

Bidding open for Merit Foods for two more weeks

Stakeholder Burcon plans to put up 'compelling bid'

The fate of Winnipeg pea- and canola-based protein processor Merit Functional Foods won’t be confirmed until the end of April at the earliest. Merit, whose major shareholders include Vancouver plant-based protein firm Burcon NutraScience, U.S. agrifood firm Bunge and former executives of Hemp Oil Canada, was placed into receivership March 1. According to the first […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola short position finally subsiding

CBOT wheat, corn also net short

MarketsFarm — After hitting the largest speculative short position in canola on record, managed money fund traders were finally covering those bearish bets in late March, according to the latest Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). As of March 28, the net managed money short position in canola futures […] Read more

The difference between a dry year and one with timely moisture is dramatic in the brown soil zone. Joseph McKee’s 2020 crop (shown in late July) yielded 65 bushels an acre while the dry conditions last year (photo taken in early July) produced a 20-bushel-an-acre crop on his Lethbridge-area farm.

Palliser Triangle: It’s hot and dry — and the next frontier for canola

With crush capacity soaring, canola council looks to the brown soil zone

Reading Time: 4 minutes The canola industry has its eyes on the Prairies’ most inhospitable regions and knows potential growers will need support. The Canola Council of Canada is setting up research it hopes will drive sustainable canola growth in the brown soil zones of the Palliser Triangle, one of the hottest, driest regions of the Prairies. With canola […] Read more