(Dave Bedard photo)

Smaller crops anticipated in looming StatsCan report

Survey-based data due out Monday

MarketsFarm — Heat and drought across Western Canada during the summer of 2021 seriously cut into the country’s crop production, raising traders’ expectations for reduced yields across the board when Statistics Canada on Monday releases its first production estimates of the year. Canola production is estimated at 11.5 million to 16 million tonnes, which would […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Ag department lowers crop production, export estimates

Expectations knocked down for most major Prairie crops

MarketsFarm — Canadian crop production will be down significantly in the 2021-22 marketing year, cutting into exports for all of the country’s major grains, oilseeds and pulse crops. That’s the estimation from the latest supply/demand estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released Thursday. Total field crop production for all crops is forecast to decrease […] Read more


ICE November 2021 canola (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola rangebound, awaits report

New StatsCan data due out Monday

MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts saw some choppy activity during the week ended Wednesday, hitting their lowest levels in nearly a month before recovering back toward the upper end of their wide sideways range. A new production report from Statistics Canada, due out Monday (Aug. 30), could set the stage for a break one […] Read more

CBOT December 2021 oats (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, brown and black lines). (Barchart)

CBOT weekly outlook: Factors worth watching

Oats showing recent strength

MarketsFarm — Choppiness in Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soyoil, a potential increase in corn prices and an upcoming production report from Statistics Canada are factors on which grains analyst Terry Reilly suggests keeping an eye. Soyoil has been hit by early reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was going to recommend to the […] Read more


A view of Imperial Oil's Strathcona fuel refinery from the North Saskatchewan River.

Imperial Oil lays out Alberta renewable diesel plan

Company would use 'locally grown' canola, soybean oils

Reuters — Imperial Oil, one of Canada’s biggest oil producers and refiners, on Wednesday outlined a plan to process vegetable oil into renewable diesel at its 191,000-barrel-per-day Edmonton-area refinery. The project, which still requires final approval, is part of majority-owner Exxon Mobil’s goal of producing more than 40,000 barrels per day of low-emissions fuels by […] Read more

A national survey on fertilizer management practices is being expanded from corn in Ontario and canola in Western Canada to include Prairie wheat.

Wheat producers join canola and corn growers in fertilizer survey

The Fertilizer Use Survey aims to show that farmers are practising good stewardship

Reading Time: 2 minutes A survey that tracks the fertilizer practices of farmers is being expanded to more crops — part of an effort to show that producers are employing management practices that are environmentally sound. “The survey shows us how agri-retailers and farmers across Canada are implementing 4R Nutrient Stewardship, which is an approach that has been demonstrated […] Read more


ICE November 2021 canola (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, green and black lines). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola remains expensive

MarketsFarm — Concerns over the likelihood of a much smaller canola crop than previously anticipated, coupled with a very tight supply situation, continued to underpin values this week. That price rationing in turn has kept canola more expensive than other edible oils, according to trader Keith Ferley of RBC Dominion Securities in Winnipeg. “The market […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Richardson buys up veg oil-based drilling lubricant maker

Grain firm supplies canola oil to Control Chemical

The Calgary maker of Matex drilling fluids is under new ownership from one of its minority owners and its biggest supplier of crude canola oil. Winnipeg grain firm Richardson International announced last Tuesday it has bought full ownership of Control Chemical Corp. for an undisclosed amount. Control Chemical is billed as a specialized manufacturer of […] Read more