(Mark Wilson photo courtesy Louis Dreyfus Co.)

Producers lose transparency with end of weekly crush report

CNS Canada — Canada’s grains industry found itself shocked when the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association (COPA) announced Friday it would stop publishing its weekly report on member crushings. “I loved that report. In Western Canada, or Canada in general, I think any reports that give you kind of a weekly snapshot of what’s happening in […] Read more

Country Guide in 2014 profiled Milligan Biofuels, whose Foam Lake, Sask. facility is shown here with the company’s first executive manager, local farmer Zenneth Faye. (Photo for Country Guide by Carol’s Photography)

Canola biodiesel processor in receivership

An eastern Saskatchewan biodiesel processor using growers’ heated, green, spring-harvested, tough and otherwise off-spec canola for feedstock is in receivership. Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench on Thursday appointed Calgary-based insolvency trustee Hardie and Kelly as the receiver for Milligan Biofuels, which operates at Foam Lake, about 90 km northwest of Yorkton. Alberta’s Crown lending agency […] Read more





Canola south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 3, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Canola ‘streaming’ firm eyes mortgage business

A Saskatchewan company that offers farmers cash up front for canola to be grown later is now tentatively bringing its model to the farm mortgage business. Input Capital, which sources canola from Prairie growers through multi-year “streaming” contracts, announced Tuesday it has launched a “mortgage stream” as a pilot project. Input, which set up in […] Read more

Workshops are being held across the region to arm farmers with best practices for combating the devastating canola disease.

Peace Country farmers told the time to halt clubroot is now

Workshops are being held across the region to arm farmers with best practices for combating the devastating canola disease

Reading Time: 2 minutes Clubroot was found in the Peace last summer — and that’s prompted an all-out effort to mobilize the farm community to do everything possible to halt the spread of the disease. Officials from the ag research group SARDA and local municipalities along with ag fieldmen are hosting workshops at seven different locations so producers can […] Read more


ICE weekly outlook: Canola creeps toward $500

CNS Canada — ICE Futures Canada canola contracts are showing signs of wanting to climb higher due to recent moves in soybean oil and the Canadian dollar. The front-month March contract is still below the benchmark $500 per tonne mark but is starting to creep toward it. Some of the movement can likely be traced […] Read more




Although swathing is the ideal time to scout for blackleg, a new lab test can determine the strain of blackleg in your field from any infected residue, even up to three years after harvest.

Canola producers get two new tools in the fight against blackleg

Tools to estimate yield loss and pinpoint the strain infesting your fields can help reduce the economic hit

Reading Time: 3 minutes Blackleg has become an expensive problem for canola producers, but growers will soon have two new tools to reduce the economic impact of the disease. “Blackleg wasn’t a real concern even a few years ago, but now it’s becoming increasingly important,” said Stephen Strelkov, a professor of plant pathology at the University of Alberta. “This […] Read more