By Dominique Patton BEIJING, April 28 (Reuters) – A Chinese consumer backlash against genetically modified (GMO) crops is beginning to dent demand for soy oil, the nation’s main cooking oil, and could spell crisis for the multi-billion-dollar crushing industry, which depends on GMO soybeans from the United States and elsewhere. The effects on import demand […] Read more
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Crushing blow? Chinese grow wary of GMO
Snow, cold expected in U.S. Plains wheat belt, heavy rains in Midwest
CHICAGO, April 28 (Reuters) – A weekend storm is expected to bring as much as a foot (30.5 cm) of snow to parts of the U.S. Plains winter wheat belt and heavy rain to the southern Midwest, stalling corn and soybean planting, meteorologists said on Friday. This week as the forecast for this storm developed […] Read more
Three million & climbing
Prairie farmers appear to be getting a good start on their efforts to meet Soy Canada’s ambitious soybean targets. Statistics Canada’s first seeding intention survey of the year has found that farmers plan to grow almost three million acres of the crop in 2017.
Canadian farmers will be growing 10 million acres of soybeans by 2027 if Soy Canada has its way. The industry association has established a series of targets, including doubling production to 13 million tonnes. “We think these are aggressive targets but achievable,” said executive director Jim Everson. “We want to set out some goals that […] Read more
Waterlogged soil puts seeding in jeopardy in parts of Manitoba
Farmers in certain areas of southern Manitoba need four to five weeks of ideal weather or they won’t be planting a crop this spring. The spring weather in late April has been far from ideal with successive storms dumping wet snow on parts of Manitoba from April 22-24. On top of that, temperatures for the […] Read more
Farmers seek insurance promise
Commissions for Alberta’s major crops are pressing the provincial agriculture department and the Agriculture Financial Services Corp. to ensure farmers are covered for the many acres of unharvested 2016 crop. The Alberta Wheat Commission, Alberta Barley, Alberta Canola Producers Commission and Alberta Pulse Growers Commission scheduled a meeting with the agriculture minister and AFSC April […] Read more
Dairy producers respond to Trump’s attack on industry
Canadian dairy farmers say they won’t be cowed by criticism from other countries — or other Canadians — about their supply managed system. However, they are getting weary of being under attack. “It would be nice to not be the centre of attention,” said Dairy Farmers of Manitoba chair David Wiens. The system set up […] Read more
Spring snow plagues farmers in northern Alta.
April showers bring May flowers but April snow brought doldrums to farmers in northern Alberta and the Alberta-British Columbia Peace region. Many fields were saturated last autumn so the snow and cold this spring have not been conducive to harvesting the remainder of the 2016 crop or the start of seeding. “It’s as wet as […] Read more
Irrigator plans to run pivots with solar
GRASSY LAKE, Alta. — Alberta’s first solar-operated irrigation pivot will start making its rounds this spring as soon as water starts flowing in canals. The 136.4 kilowatt solar array was installed at Merlinds Farms Ltd., operated by brothers Cory and Lindsay Nelson, in November, so they have yet to see how it functions in terms […] Read more
Canadian mustard acres feeling squeeze from canola
Winnipeg, April 27 (CNS Canada) – After growing the largest mustard crop in more than a decade in 2016, the supply/demand fundamentals should see fewer Canadian mustard acres in 2017. And with more cropland moving into canola, mustard acreage increases may be limited in future years when supplies are tight again. The 2016 Canadian mustard […] Read more
Livestock traceability systems in place but future uncertain
Nearly a year after the federal government quietly axed funding for developing a central database to support new livestock traceability regulations, the project’s main supplier has still not been paid and its former chair says he doesn’t know where the government plans to redirect the money. Marie-Christine Talbot, president of Agri-Traçabilité Québec (ATQ), the non-profit […] Read more
