Strong domestic demand should support the price even as policy changes in China could affect world corn trade
Corn prices could be heading back to $5 per bushel due to a disappointing U.S. crop and that bodes well for all grain and oilseed prices, says an analyst. Water Street Solutions conducted an aerial survey of crops throughout the U.S. Midwest on July 30 taking photos every minute. The photos show that much of […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Drought sends Alta., Sask. pea, lentil yields down
Pulse crop yields will be well below the previous five-year average, says an industry official and a market analyst. Carl Potts, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, says pea yields will likely be 20 to 30 percent below normal. The five-year average is 37 bushels per acre, so that means something in the range of […] Read more
Supply management on the table at TPP
Has Canada dealt away dairy quota rights to keep a seat at the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks? BY SEAN PRATT
Canadian negotiators offered concessions on the country’s supply management system during the recent round of Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks in Hawaii, says an international trade lawyer. “Having put that on the table, it means that supply management is negotiable and what we’re now talking about are the numbers,” said Lawrence Herman, principal in Toronto-based Herman […] Read moreSurvey shows fusarium damage lower than last year
Fusarium head blight will not cause as much damage to Western Canada’s wheat and durum crops as it did last year, say plant disease experts. Pam deRocquigny, cereal crops specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, said the province has been conducting surveys in recent weeks to assess the incidence and severity of infection in standing wheat crops. […] Read more
Canola estimates creep up with rain
Canada’s canola crop appears to be getting bigger as demand is slumping, say two market analysts. They take issue with CWB’s production estimate of 12.5 million tonnes, formulated after touring fields across Western Canada between July 21 and July 24. “Our two bits is they’re a million tonnes short,” said Errol Anderson, analyst with ProMarket […] Read more
Something’s fishy about new canola project
One acre of Nuseed canola, now in field trials, could produce the equivalent DHA oil of 4,000 one-kilogram fish
CORRECTION – August 12, 2015 1015 CST – this story originally stated Dow AgroSciences was involved in a joint partnership with Cargill and BASF. The partnership is actually between Cargill and BASF. Canola containing healthy fish oil is in field trials around the world. “I think this will be huge for canola,” said Malcolm Devine, […] Read more
New service expected to improve transparency
Market analysts say Alberta Wheat Commission’s website will add to an already large amount of industry information
Grain growers will have vastly im-proved market transparency when selling the 2015 crop. The Alberta Wheat Commission is putting the finishing touches on a website at www.pdqinfo.ca that will provide farmers with regional average daily cash prices for all the major crops. “We’re hoping to be able to make some announcement closer to harvest,” said […] Read more
Canada next stop for COFCO?
Analyst speculates about what the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp. will buy next
It is only a matter of time before a Chinese food industry behemoth attempts to acquire Canadian grain industry assets, says an analyst. China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp. (COFCO) has been gobbling up assets around the world, and it won’t be long until one of the world’s largest food companies turns its attention […] Read moreLarge spring wheat crop expected in U.S.
American farmers are getting ready to harvest a bumper spring wheat crop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting 15.6 million tonnes of production, which would be the largest crop since 1996-97, despite the fifth smallest planted area in 20 years. It is also forecasting a sizable 2.06 million tonne durum crop, which is almost […] Read more
Cargill opens canola refinery in Sask.
Cargill continues to expand its footprint in the canola business. Shortly after opening its new crush facility in Camrose, the company unveiled its first canola refinery in Clavet, Sask. The new facility has the capacity to refine 454 million kilograms of canola oil annually, making it Cargill’s largest North American refinery. “This new refinery means […] Read more
