ST. ALBERT, Alta. — Crop disease specialist Robyne Bowness expressed a little discomfort as she stood in front of a perfect pea crop. She was there to discuss disease, but as she surveyed the plots searching for disease to show those attending the crop walk at the University of Alberta farm north of Edmonton, there […] Read more
News
Pea disease absent on tour, but information forthcoming nonetheless
Canola falls sharply
Canola and the rest of the crops complex fell sharply Thursday, failing to take flight from soaring global equity markets and failing to be held tight by a flat commodity complex. Analysts are debating whether the recent price weakness and yo-yoing action of the crops futures complex is a sign of a peak having been […] Read more
CFA begins fight for mixed rural, urban ridings
TORONTO — Canada’s largest farm lobby is taking the unusual step of encouraging member provincial organizations to try to influence the redrawing of political constituency boundaries now underway by Elections Canada. At its semi-annual summer meeting July 25, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture urged members to apply to make presentations before electoral boundaries commissions that […] Read more
Canola rebounds
Well, what a relief that was! Canola prices, along with virtually every other crop with a futures contract, rebounded strongly from Tuesday’s rout, ending solidly in the green and alleviating fears that the drought market rally had ended and was collapsing. Winnipeg ICE canola futures ended up $9.50 per tonne to $616.70 for the November […] Read more
Aster yellows threaten canola yields in Manitoba
Harvest is still several weeks away but a widespread infection of aster yellows could cut canola yields in parts of Manitoba by five to 10 percent. Now that canola crops have moved past the bloom stage, it’s become apparent to canola growers, plant pathologists and crop advisers that the level of aster yellows is much […] Read more
Is it just me, or do others think the soybean selloff was just following general sentiment?
Is it just me, or does anyone else out there think the soybean slump of the past few days has really been mostly about the overall world market zeitgeist and only marginally about soybeans? Yes, yes, yes I know: soybeans have skyrocketed in recent months, the drought impact may already be factored-in, demand is being […] Read more
Canola closes down, crop futures markets hit hard
Market mayhem ruled in Chicago’s crop futures markets today, and the violent sell-off brutalized canola futures too. November Winnipeg ICE canola futures fell $22.50 per tonne to $607.20, or from $14.28 per bushel to $13.77. At one point canola skidded to slightly beneath $600 but quickly recovered as $600 triggers were fired. The action was […] Read more
GM approval system draws criticism
Much like how genetically modified organisms themselves draw controversy, the review designed to explore potential introduction of a non-browning GM apple is taking flak. Lucy Sharratt, co-ordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, said the period set aside for Canadians to comment on the apple’s potential approval shows flaws in the Canadian system. “The CFIA […] Read more
Producers important in ensuring animal welfare
Reporting animal welfare violations isn’t the solely the responsibility of veterinarians, says Chris Clark of the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine. Veterinarians must consider animal welfare as part of every visit to a farm, he told attendees at the recent Cross Border Livestock Health conference in Saskatoon, and as educators make recommendations […] Read more
Canola takes a beating
Canola stood up to take the beating the futures markets doled out to all the big crops Monday, hammering especially at soybeans in Chicago. Canola fell 34 cents per bushel on both the November and January contracts, a big decline but only of the lowest point of the session. Canola’s problems were almost entirely triggered […] Read more
