Photo: Greg Berg

Analysts expect additional acres for canola, wheat

StatCan estimates due out Wednesday

MarketsFarm — If traders and analysts are correct with their estimates, there will be slightly more wheat and canola acres seeded in Canada this year compared to 2022. Statistics Canada (StatCan) will release its first survey-based acreage estimates for the 2023-24 marketing year on April 26. Other than drier and cooler conditions in southern Manitoba, […] Read more

File photo of a federal office building in downtown Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC raises canola stocks projections

StatCan's early acreage estimates due out this week

MarketsFarm — Canola ending stocks for both the current marketing year and 2023-24 were raised slightly by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in its latest supply/demand projections, released Friday. The government agency lowered its canola export forecast for 2022-23 by 200,000 tonnes from March, now pegging movement at 8.4 million tonnes. With domestic usage left […] Read more


Provincial officials have calculated numbers for every major soil zone. But be forewarned — the cost of inputs is frighteningly high.

Highlights from this year’s crop forecast

There aren’t a lot of surprises but much of the forecast hinges on the cost of growing a crop

Reading Time: 2 minutes Want to hit a home run this year? Grow kabuli chickpeas. But only if you farm in the brown soil zone. That pulse crop holds the No. 1 spot in this year’s forecast from the provincial agriculture department with an anticipated profit (before fixed costs and rent) of $347 an acre — if there’s a […] 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


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


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

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

ICE weekly outlook: Not a matter of when, but where canola peaks

Prevailing trend remains downward

MarketsFarm — As the rally in canola on ICE Futures continued Wednesday, an analyst stressed it’s not when this upswing ends, but where. David Derwin of PI Financial in Winnipeg spoke of when canola prices were falling, and they broke through that psychological barrier of $800 per tonne on their way down. “That was the […] Read more