Many crops grown in Canada are traded on an active futures market: corn, soybeans, canola, and wheat being the most common. But plenty of other crops don't trade on futures, instead relying on cash prices, actual deliveries, and contracts for price discovery and risk management. Jon Driedger of LeftField Commodity Research says that when market... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Flax growers in Western Canada and North Dakota who have historically sold straw to Schweitzer-Mauduit International (SWM) are now scrambling to find a market for their straw. The Georgia-based company, which has processing facilities at Winkler and Carman, Manitoba, is planning to cease its flax straw operations by the end of 2021. As a result,... Read More
Ontario's approximately 85 sugar beet growers are likely to benefit from announced updates to the Michigan Sugar Bay City plant. Last week, Michigan Sugar announced a planned US$65 million upgrade to one of its four sugar beet processing facilities. The upgrade includes a de-sugaring addition for molasses, which will help the company improve overall sugar... Read More
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) has updated its forecast for this year's crop, reflecting the impact of drought in Western Canada in its August numbers. AAFC's July report garnered more attention than normal, with a 19.9 million metric tonne (MT) canola production estimate coming in much higher than any other canola projections. In the outlook... Read More
Summer is winding down and many farmers are gearing up for the next stage of harvest. For some, that means swathing or timing a pre-harvest pass, and for others it means getting the cover crop seed down. For this episode of Wheat Pete's Word, host Peter Johnson has a few cautions for late-summer pesticide applications,... Read More
Grain storage, when done right and with proper conditions, could be a boring topic. However, we are dealing with the environment here, and well, you know how unpredictable that can be. To help us navigate through the topic of safe grain storage is Lorne Grieger of the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI), and Shawn Senko... Read More
Maizex Seeds has announced the launch of four new soybean varieties to be sold in Western Canada exclusively through Maizex Seeds certified dealers. “The launch of these four new varieties represents a new performance level option for soybean producers,” says Stephen Denys, director of market and product development with Maizex Seeds. “Developed through our proven... Read More