Pea yields are challenged by disease, specifically with aphanomyces, which is a soil-borne disease that has long life in the soil. The creation of a resistant variety would be a game changer in the pea seed market.

Farmers’ needs drive variety trends

Q & A with an expert

Q: What makes the biggest little seed on the block? A: New grain varieties are constantly entering the marketplace. These varieties bring new innovations including updated disease resistance and yield improvements. But what makes certain varieties stand out over others and their names well known? It is the balance of all desired traits into varieties […] Read more

(iStock photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Canada’s exports solid through first quarter

MarketsFarm — Canadian pulse exports were leaving at the country at a solid pace through the first three months of the 2020-21 marketing year, according to the latest Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) monthly data. Canada exported 343,000 tonnes of peas in October, taking the 2020-21 year-to-date total to 1.136 million tonnes. That’s up by about […] Read more


A view from Globeways Canada’s office at Mississauga, Ont., from a 2011 video marking the presentation of the Mississauga Board of Trade’s award for Small Business of the Year. (MBOT video screengrab via YouTube)

Suspended pulse crop handlers partly reinstated

Companies can't buy or receive more grain from growers

Three suspended pulse and special crop handling and processing companies are again licensed to move Canadian grain — but not to buy any. The Canadian Grain Commission announced Monday it has reinstated the licences for Globeways Canada Inc. and its subsidiaries: Canpulse Foods Ltd., a pulse and canary seed processor at Kindersley, Sask., and Global […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan report to provide clarity on 2020 crop production

MarketsFarm — Market participants and producers will be looking to Statistics Canada’s principal field crop report, due out Thursday, for clarity regarding 2020 crop yields. “We’re looking to see how severely the heat damaged the crop, and how yield estimates were tempered later in the growing season,” said Jerry Klassen, an analyst in Winnipeg. Klassen […] Read more



(Serts/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Export demand supports lentils

India set to extend current tariff reductions

MarketsFarm — Lentil prices in Western Canada saw a counter-seasonal rally at the end of harvest and are likely to sustain that rally into winter. “Prices are going to keep going higher,” Darcy Barie, a commodity buyer with Verdient Foods at Vanscoy, Sask., said. Ahead of the 2020 harvest, red lentils were around 24 cents/lb. […] Read more


U.S.-based Impossible Foods, whose Impossible Burger is shown here on display at U.S. grocery chain Wegmans, launched the product at Canadian retail in late October 2020, selling exclusively at Sobeys stores until February 2021. (ImpossibleFoods.com)

CFIA to consult on new near-meat, non-meat guidelines

Clarity for labels, promotion, composition to be considered

“Greater clarity” in federal guidelines for the makeup and labels of “simulated” meat and poultry products is the end zone for a new round of consultations underway for the next month. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Tuesday announced the launch for the public consultation, which includes an online survey and runs until Dec. 3. […] Read more

Seed growers pick the year’s top performers

Seed growers pick the year’s top performers

Although most crops did quite well in 2020, a few varieties really stood out

On average, 2020 presented a pretty decent growing season, with decent yields and decent grain, oilseed and pulse crop quality, all contributing to a general sense of industry optimism, say seed growers across Western Canada. Region to region it wasn’t perfect — some excessive rains in the central Peace River region and parts of northern […] Read more


Anita Stewart. (FoodDayCanada.ca)

Canadian food laureate Anita Stewart, 73

Guelph flags to be lowered for Food Day Canada founder

Flags at the University of Guelph are to be flown at half-mast Tuesday in honour of Canadian food advocate Anita Stewart, who died Thursday in hospital in Hamilton. Stewart, 73, was the first person in the world to be conferred with the title of “food laureate,” as she was named by the University of Guelph […] Read more