The skeleton of a fish is seen in the Navarro lagoon, which dried up due to the climate phenomenon La Nina, in Navarro in Argentina’s Buenos Aires province on Dec. 5, 2022. (File photo: Reuters/Agustin Marcarian)

Worst drought in decades sees Argentina exchange slash soy, corn forecasts

Buenos Aires | Reuters — Argentina’s Rosario Grains exchange sharply cut its forecast for the 2022-23 soybean harvest to 37 million tonnes from a previous forecast of 49 million, it said on Wednesday, as the country faces its worst drought in 60 years. The exchange also slashed its 2022-23 corn harvest estimate to around 45 […] Read more

Standard choppers are frequently not large enough to spread residue effectively and harrows can create residue clumping, says agronomy consultant Phil Needham.

Excess crop residue a yield-robbing issue on many farms

It’s a problem everywhere – mismatched choppers and harrows that don’t fix the problem, says agronomist

Reading Time: 4 minutes Throughout his travels as a consultant, Phil Needham has noticed producers continue to struggle with residue management to the detriment of crop emergence, plant counts and yield. Many residue management woes come down to two pieces of equipment: harrows and mismatched choppers on combines, said Needham, who operates an agronomy services company in Kentucky. “I […] Read more


(Greg Berg photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: 2022 a ‘good year’ for Manitoba pulses, soy

MarketsFarm — Despite a rough start to southern Manitoba’s growing season, Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers executive director Daryl Domitruk was content with how 2022 came to pass. “For pulses and soybeans, it was generally a good year as a result of some very good yields in soybeans and some quite good yields in dry […] Read more

File photo of the Rainbow Bridge across the Niagara River between Ontario and New York. (Bloodua/iStock/Getty Images)

Large gap between StatCan, USDA canola estimates

USDA sticks closer to StatCan expectations on wheat

MarketsFarm — There’s a significant difference in the amount of canola grown in Canada during 2022-23, in the estimate from Statistics Canada (StatCan) compared to that from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Earlier in December, StatCan’s survey-based production of principal field crops report pegged this year’s canola harvest at 18.17 million tonnes. That’s a […] Read more


A combine in the Interlake runs against the setting sun on Nov. 1, 2022, in an effort to wrap up harvest.  Photo: Greg Berg

Manitoba nets average crops in 2022 after wet spring

MarketsFarm – Wet spring conditions delayed seeding operations across much of Manitoba to start the 2022 growing season, but warm summer conditions allowed for good development with yields for most crops showing a marked improvement over the drought-stricken 2021 harvest, according to the final crop report of the season from Manitoba Agriculture. On a crop-by-crop […] Read more

Alberta crop yields top 10-year average

Alberta crop yields top 10-year average

Reading Time: < 1 minute With harvest mostly complete, dryland yields were running about six per cent above the 10-year-average, although that varied considerably across Alberta. Aggregate yields for the five major crops (wheat, barley, canola, peas and oats) were just slightly below the 10-year average in the south and northwest. They were seven per cent higher in the northeast, […] Read more


ICE January 2023 canola (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and 100-day moving average (black line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola sees choppy, sideways month-end trade

Wide crush margins remain bullish

MarketsFarm –– ICE Futures canola contracts held within a narrow range during the week ended Wednesday, lacking any clear direction with the rolling of positions out of the nearby November contract ahead of its expiry behind much of the trade volumes. “We’re stuck a little rangebound here,” a Winnipeg-based trader said of the sideways activity, […] Read more

The canola market outlook this year is more complicated and unsettled than ever, but the traditional advice still applies: manage your risk.

Tough calls: canola marketing is extra complex in an unstable world

Pull the trigger or hold and hope? That perennial question is even more complicated this year

Reading Time: 3 minutes With the most expensive crop ever planted mostly in the bin and the world becoming more unstable by the day, farmers face complex choices for canola marketing. Should they sell what hasn’t been contracted to take advantage of prices hovering around $19 per bushel in early October? Or should they hold and wait for another […] Read more


(iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Manitoba’s dry beans, peas show strong yields

MarketsFarm — With the return of typical temperatures and healthy amounts of precipitation throughout the growing season, Manitoba had successful pea and dry bean crops during the 2022-23 marketing year, according to the province’s pulse specialist. Dennis Lange of Manitoba Agriculture said both crops showed high yields from their respective harvests. The Manitoba pea harvest […] Read more

File photo of a sunrise over an Alberta barley crop. (MNphotography/iStock/Getty Images)

Alberta issues final crop report for year

Harvest over 98 per cent done by region and crop type

MarketsFarm –– For the second year in a row the Alberta harvest wrapped up well ahead of the five-year average. With a gain of three points for the week ended Tuesday, Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development (AFRED) pegged the combining of major crops at 99.2 per cent complete. That’s 22 and a half […] Read more