The affected canola plants had parts of their stems pinched off and were kinked over about six inches from the top. Symptomatic plants and others around them also had purpling leaves.

Crop advisor casebook: Why the deformed canola and purpling leaves?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the March 9, 2021 issue of Grainews

In mid-July, I received a call from Carl, a grain farmer located near Onoway, Alta., who was concerned about disfigured canola plants in one of his fields. “It’s not a disaster yet and it seems to be happening in just one field, but I’d like to solve the issue before it gets any worse,” he […] Read more

ICE May 2021 canola (candlesticks) with 30-day moving average (green line) and CBOT May 2021 soyoil (yellow line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola’s correction likely short-lived given tight supplies

MarketsFarm — The ICE Futures canola market ran into a profit-taking correction on Wednesday, backing away from recently-hit contract highs. While a further correction is possible, the underlying fundamentals remain supportive and canola is expected to retain its relative strength to other oilseeds. “The market needs bullish fuel, but it’s just not getting any,” said […] Read more


Sclerotinia stem rot leaf lesion forming from an infected canola petal.

How to manage sclerotinia stem rot in canola

Disease risk comes down to moisture

Sclerotinia stem rot is one of the most destructive diseases in canola. The fungus can cause up to 50 per cent yield loss. From year to year, region to region, and field to field, occurrence and severity are extremely variable. Foliar fungicides remain the main source of control. Canola Council of Canada agronomy director, Clint […] Read more

Several participants attended a field day on Walker Farms to have a look at the cocktail blend of forages. Cattle, in the background, will eventually move into this productive feed as part of a high-intensity, rotational grazing program.

Livestock can benefit crop production

Combining the two benefits both beef and crops, says a Saskatchewan producer, and let’s not forget about the soil

Lance Walker says incorporating the livestock enterprise into more of the grain component on the family’s central Saskatchewan farm in recent years is already showing signs of increasing production, while reducing input costs. He’s excited to see where increasing the synergy between the two enterprises — that includes feeding cattle on cropland, multi-species cropping and […] Read more


WGEA executive director Wade Sobkowich. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Allan Dawson)

Railways to blame for terminal shortages, WGEA says

Grain handlers take issue with MarketsFarm report

MarketsFarm — The association representing the Prairies’ main grain handling companies says recent delays in loading vessels have less to do with the availability of grain and more to do with the railways hauling it to port. The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), which represents major handlers such as Viterra, Richardson, Cargill and others, raised […] Read more

How to reach 52 bushels per acre of canola

How to reach 52 bushels per acre of canola

Tips to take you beyond common management practices to maximize canola yields

Canadian canola yields have increased substantially over the last few decades. In the early 2000s, the five-year average was 25.3 bushels per acre. By 2010, that had risen to 33 bu/ac. Today, it’s about 41 bu/ac. While the upward trend is very positive, yield has been fairly flat for the last five years due — […] Read more


As late as 1987, one big rain event did all this damage to a summerfallow field near Eastend, Sask.

Les Henry: Soil productivity, quality and health

Nature and nurture

Soil health is a prominent topic in current scientific and farm management literature. It is good to see attention being paid to the soil resource our industry depends on. In this piece, we will try to unravel some of the principles and the practical application of those principles. From the get-go, we must realize farming […] Read more

Ever feel like this? This slide was taken from the end of Mike Jubinville′s presentation.

Editor’s Column: How high will grain markets go? It doesn’t matter. The strategy of the day is incremental selling into these rising markets

From the fall of last year to today, which is Feb. 16, it has been a momentous time for grain markets. And as good as that is, Mike Jubinville, a senior markets analyst for MarketsFarm, stressed time and again during MarketsFarm’s Markets Outlook 2021 webinar last month, that incremental selling into these profitable and rising […] Read more


A field of spring wheat with yellowing, chlorotic plants.

Crop advisor casebook: Chlorotic spring wheat plants perplex farmer

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the March 2, 2021 issue of Grainews

During the first week of July last year, I received a call from Leonard, who grows 7,000 acres of spring wheat, winter wheat, canola, flax and peas near Shoal Lake, Man. He’d been out doing his evening crop check the day before when he spotted something wrong with his spring wheat crop. Rather than a […] Read more

ICE May 2021 canola with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola back where it started

Day-to-day movements seen as tough to predict

MarketsFarm — ICE canola futures are pretty much back where they were a week ago after losing ground, only to recover by small — and then strong — gains. The May canola contract finished at $765.20 per tonne on Friday and closed Wednesday at $767.30. In between, the lowest close for May was $735.20. That […] Read more