MarketsFarm — Acreage and production of lentils in Canada are expected to mostly remain the same for the 2021-22 crop year. While strong demand during the COVID-19 pandemic has bolstered prices over the past year, increased production from competing exporters may cut into that buying interest going forward. Elyce Simpson Fraser, senior vice-president of Simpson […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Canada’s lentils face competition
Beware of Kazakhs wanting to buy seed, agency says
Seed growers and farmers alike are being warned such sales breach breeders' rights rules
Western Canadian seed growers, seed retailers and commercial farmers are being urged not to sell seed to Kazakhs or their agents because it breaches plant breeders’ rights rules. “The basic fact is no Canadian breeder has given permission for their genetics to go to Kazakhstan,” Lorne Hadley, executive director of the Canadian Plant Technology Agency, […] Read more
Kazakhstan’s president says farmland won’t be sold to foreigners
Almaty | Reuters — Kazakhstan will permanently ban sales of agricultural land to foreigners, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Friday, ending a long-running discussion about controversial land reform plans. Provisions that would have allowed foreign ownership of farmland prompted public protests throughout Kazakhstan in 2016. The government decided at the time to put off the […] Read more
Russia will suspend grain exports for six weeks if quota runs out mid-May
Several supplies to Egypt might be affected, traders say
Moscow | Reuters — Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, will suspend grain exports until July 1 once its export quota is exhausted, which is currently expected to happen in mid-May, its deputy agriculture minister Oksana Lut said on Friday. Russia last fully banned wheat exports in 2010 when drought hit its harvest, rocking global […] Read more
China eases customs curbs for soy imports through northern border
Beijing | Reuters — China has eased customs regulations on imports of soybean through some northern border checkpoints, the commerce ministry said, a move that could smooth the way for shipments from neighbours such as Kazakhstan, Russia and perhaps Ukraine. The changes come as China looks to diversify soybean imports amid trade tension with the […] Read more
Flax prices muted
MarketsFarm — Flax yields are expected to be average at harvest season, thanks to the combination of more seeded acres and inclement growing conditions. Export numbers have been lower in recent years, due in part to China having opted to import flax from other countries besides Canada. According to an early 2019 report from FarmLead, […] Read more
Lentils back at square one heading into 2018
CNS Canada — Lentil prices in Western Canada have dropped significantly over the past year as India’s policy changes and militant actions elsewhere affected markets, according to traders. Green lentil prices in Western Canada lost anywhere from 20 to 36 cents per pound over the course of 2017, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. Prices are […] Read more
Canadian flax prospects dimmed by China’s silk road
Winnipeg | CNS – China’s construction of a new “silk road” connecting the country to Europe isn’t likely to be good news for Canadian flax exporters. For several years, Canada has been the main exporter of flax to China but that could likely change if Kazakhstan ever has a direct link to the China. “We […] Read more
Kazakh president meets farmland protests with reshuffle
Astana | Reuters — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, facing opposition calls for a demonstration in the business centre Almaty, completed a government reshuffle initiated this week in response to street protests against farmland privatisation plans. Economy minister Yerbolat Dosayev and agriculture minister Asylzhan Mamytbekov, whose ministries were behind the planned land reform, both resigned after […] Read more
Kazakh leader evokes Ukraine as land protests spread
Almaty | Reuters –– Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, facing a growing wave of protests against planned changes to land ownership, evoked the image of war-torn Ukraine on Sunday as he called for national unity. Speaking at an event in Almaty to mark the annual May 1 Unity Day celebrations, Nazarbayev highlighted Ukraine, where street protests […] Read more
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