The large volume of spring-harvested canola has increased producer concerns about grading and dockage assessments by elevators this year.

Don’t like the grade or dockage assessment?

For $50, the Canadian Grain Commission will give you an independent assessment 
of the quality of your canola

Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta producers are reporting large variations among buyers in their dockage assessment on canola, says a provincial crop market analyst. “On dockage alone, producers have reported from one to over three per cent differences in dockage on the same sample of their canola,” said Neil Blue. “These differences were reported both in cases of comparing […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. agribusiness deal not a priority for Glencore

Lausanne | Reuters — Glencore does not see further consolidation in agricultural commodities as straightforward and views a U.S. acquisition as less crucial than in the past, the group’s agriculture chief said Tuesday. The diversified trading and mining group had pointed to the possibility of making bolt-on acquisitions after posting improved results for 2016 and […] Read more


Grain elevators reporting spike in heated canola

Grain elevators reporting spike in heated canola

More heated canola is being reported so producers should check for heated seeds by coring bins or transferring their grain to another bin

Reading Time: 3 minutes Growers, check your bins — grain terminals across Alberta have reported a spike in heated canola, and your cereals may be in danger as well. “I did a sample of canola two or three weeks ago and it already had four per cent of heated in it, and canola can deteriorate very quickly,” Larry Michta […] Read more

grain grading

Learn how to grade your grain

July 26 workshop to be held in Vermilion

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Making the Grade workshops will be held at Lakeland College in Vermilion on July 26. Experts will show producers how to grade barley, wheat, canola, and pulses in hands-on sessions. “Understanding grain grading and factors affecting quality is important for all crop producers as it affects their bottom line,” said Terry Young, a producer […] Read more


China to let land lie fallow as grain stocks surge

Beijing/Reuters – China’s ruling Communist Party has for the first time proposed to let land lie fallow in some areas to ease pressure on exhausted water and land resources while grain stocks are near record levels, state media reported on Wednesday. After years of excessive cultivation and bumper grain harvests, China is facing severe shortages […] Read more

Saskatchewan farm groups talk transportation

Transport review won't be complete until after the election

Saskatoon — Grain transportation should be an election issue, says Cam Goff, chair of the Saskatchewan Barley Development Commission, which hosted the Farmers’ Forum on Grain Transportation here Monday along with the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission. The forum coincided with Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz’s announcement in Winnipeg of […] Read more


irrigation equipment

The big two irrigated crops seeing some competition

Forages and cereals still dominate irrigated 
acreage, but oilseeds and specialty crops 
are growing in popularity

Reading Time: 3 minutes Each year, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development publishes a compilation of all 13 of the province’s irrigation districts’ data for the previous year. The latest figures show cereals and forages (pasture, hay and silage crops) still account for two-thirds of the 1,390,000 acres in the districts, but the trend is clear — forage production isn’t […] Read more



grain terminal at dawn

Should farmers pay for protection against grain company defaults?

The Canadian Grain Commission has proposed setting up a security fund paid 
for by grain companies, but Ontario has gone with a farmer-funded model

Reading Time: 4 minutes Manitoba’s main farm group is eyeing a plan that would see farmers directly fund insurance to cover losses when grain buyers can’t pay their bills. That’s a different route than envisioned by Ottawa under sweeping changes to the Canada Grains Act introduced to Parliament last month. The plan is to replace the Canadian Grain Commission’s […] Read more