(Xinzheng/Getty Images)

New China import rules bring headaches for food, beverage makers

Cooking oil, milled grains among foods moved to higher-risk categories

Beijing | Reuters — Makers of Irish whiskey, Belgian chocolate and European coffee brands are scrambling to comply with new Chinese food and beverage regulations, with many fearful their goods will be unable to enter the giant market as a Jan. 1 deadline looms. China’s customs authority published new food safety rules in April stipulating […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola declines, durum drops in new StatsCan estimates

Soybean, oats estimates raised

MarketsFarm — There were very few surprises in Statistics Canada’s latest principal field crop production estimates released Friday — the first in 2021-22 to use a survey of producers. Nevertheless, they quantified just how severe last summer’s drought was in Western Canada. Canola production for the 2021-22 marketing year was estimated to be 12.595 million […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC lowers canola export forecast

Domestic canola usage raised; other crops largely unchanged

MarketsFarm — Canadian canola exports during the 2021-22 marketing year are forecast to be smaller than earlier projections, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) reported late Friday. Domestic usage, however, was raised in the report, keeping ending stocks of the crop steady with the October forecast. Total Canadian canola exports in 2021-22 are now forecast at […] Read more

Manitoba Ag soil management specialist Marla Riekman says soil compaction can limit yields and have an indirect effect on crop development.

Soil compaction could squeeze your yields

A look at the direct and indirect effects of compaction in your fields

For years, soil compaction wasn’t something Jeff Hamblin gave a lot of thought to. The Manitoba producer had heard about how the seasonal freeze-thaw cycle in the Red River Valley and elsewhere in the Prairies acted to naturally alleviate farmland soil compaction, but it wasn’t until he started investigating some problem areas in his fields […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Feds tighten forecast for wheat carryout

MarketsFarm — Canadian wheat carryout for the 2021-22 crop year will be even tighter than earlier forecasts, according to updated supply/demand estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released Wednesday. The October report included only minor adjustments for most crops, with the most notable change from September being a 500,000-tonne reduction in projected wheat ending […] Read more

Wheat being loaded onto a cargo ship in Vancouver in 2011. (File photo: Reuters/Ben Nelms)

Exports tumble as supplies simply not there

'There's very little to sell'

MarketsFarm — Cereal and oilseed exports out of Canada nosedived in August just as the 2021-22 marketing began, according to the monthly export report from the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC). At about 2.24 million tonnes, total grain exports were down 38.5 per cent overall compared to those in August 2020. “There’s very little to sell. […] Read more


A farmer applies micronutrients in the fall.

Micronutrient application tips

A look at copper, zinc and boron and other pointers on fertility application

Micronutrients may only be required in small doses, but that doesn’t make them less important to your crops, and fall can be a good time to address any deficiencies. “Much like nitrogen and phosphorus, micronutrients play a critical role in crop production and yield,” says Rigas Karamanos, senior agronomist with Koch Agronomic Services. Micronutrients make […] Read more

(Flax Council of Canada photo)

Supply/demand pushing up flax prices

Corrected, Sept. 23 — MarketsFarm — Prices for flax have skyrocketed in 2021, as the amount to be harvested has fallen while demand has increased, according to Dale McManus of Johnston’s Seeds at Welwyn, Sask. Johnston’s was paying $38 per bushel for golden flax picked up off of the farm, he said, and brown flax […] Read more


Photo: File

Alberta reckons with poor quality, low crop yields

MarketsFarm – Crops in Alberta will not only have much lower yields than in previous years, but good quality crops will be harder to find. Provincial crop condition ratings declined over the past two weeks, according to the Province of Alberta’s biweekly crop report as of Aug. 10, which was released three days later. Only […] Read more

Photo: iStock

Sask. Crop Report: Harvests ahead of schedule

MarketsFarm – The annual harvest in Saskatchewan is moving along earlier and faster than usual as crops dry down to high heat and lack of moisture. Three per cent of Saskatchewan’s crop has been combined, compared to the less than one per cent at this point last year, according to the province’s crop report for […] Read more