Canada is about to be dethroned as the world’s top flax exporter. APK-Inform, a Ukrainian-based agribusiness consulting agency, is forecasting that Kazakhstan will export 550,000 tonnes of flax in 2018-19, a 48 percent increase over last year. By comparison, Agriculture Canada is forecasting 400,000 tonnes of Canadian flax exports. If those projections prove accurate, it […] Read more
Flax
Cereals lower, while canola rises on soft dollar
Soybean oil and a softer Canadian dollar helped canola move up on Thursday’s markets, as traders gave back some of the previous two weeks declines. November canola finished at $495, up $3.70 per tonne on ICE futures. January rose above $500, up $4.10 to $502, March up the same, to $506.90 and May was up […] Read more
There’s no money to be made with a poor crop
Maybe it’s so obvious that no one bothers to talk about it. Maybe the full gravity of the situation is yet to sink in. Whatever the case, thousands of farms in dry regions of the Prairies are facing poor crops and big monetary losses. For example purposes, let’s assume yields that are near or just […] Read more
Weed Clipper handles weeds reaching for the sky
REGINA — Bourgault Tillage Tools is selling what is essentially one of the world’s largest mowers, clipping weeds that stand above the crop canopy. The BTT Weed Clipper is a 50-foot wide power take-off driven solution for both organic growers struggling with tall, fast maturing weeds and conventional growers struggling with herbicide resistant weeds that […] Read more
Canola council takes over flax marketing duties
The Flax Council of Canada is hiring the Canola Council of Canada to work on its behalf in foreign markets. The flax council closed its Winnipeg office in January due to funding cuts but it wasn’t ready to completely exit the agriculture industry. “We were certainly in the position of needing some way forward,” said […] Read more
Intercropping canola and peas shows increased net returns
Saskatchewan farmer Sheldon Dowling describes his first experience with intercropping as interesting. In fact, the results from his pea-canola experiment in 2017 were so interesting that he decided to try it again this year. “Interesting is the key word,” said Dowling, who farms near MacDowall, Sask., near Prince Albert. “It’s pretty counter-intuitive to apply no […] Read more
Canaryseed bids edge higher as supply tightens
Brown mustard prices are likely dropping, yellow may have modest upside and oriental values are expected to be flat
REGINA — Price forecasts are all over the map for Canada’s special crops. Chuck Penner, an analyst with LeftField Commodity Research, provided outlooks for canaryseed, mustard, sunflowers and flax at the 2018 Pulse and Special Crops Convention. He was bullish canaryseed, partly because of reduced export competition. Penner thinks farmers planted more than the 223,000 […] Read more
Trade uncertainty unnerves the markets
The WASDE report might have set the direction, but trade issues set the pace after recovering prices tumble again
After tumbling and bouncing last week, grain and oilseed markets started out July 16 with greater optimism, potentially having set the bottom for several crops. Soybeans began climbing back up from a beating after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report July 12. Near double digit gains were made, locking […] Read more
Firm, steady prices expected for flax this year
Farmers planted less of the crop this year, but demand is growing from China, the U.S. and possibly the European Union
Farmers with flax in the ground should be pleased come autumn. Statistics Canada revised its seeded acreage estimate downward in late June and that, combined with lower carry-out stocks and several other factors, should bring strong prices. “Given the demand in the market from China, the United States and potentially even the European Union, I […] Read moreCrop insurance prices out of line with markets
Market prices have declined on some commodities, making the insured price from crop insurance look generous by comparison. This has ramifications for producers who may be hit with low yields this fall. The great debate about the size of the prairie crop will intensify in the weeks ahead. While crop potential is good in many […] Read more
