Crops & Production Tips

U.S. grains: Corn drops, soybeans rise on new biofuel targets

By GFM Network News May 29, 2015

Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. corn futures fell on Friday and posted a second straight weekly decline after the U.S. government lowered its targets for ethanol blending and as corn export demand slumped for the crop harvested this autumn. Soybeans rose about one per cent, led by sharply higher soybean oil futures as the U.S. […] Read more

A new paper finds nutritional composition of modern wheat is similar to wheat grown in Canada 150 years ago. (Gloria Gingera/University of Saskatchewan photo courtesy CNW Group/Healthy Grains Institute)

Crops, Markets, Reuters, Spring Wheat

Study of CWRS wheats counters diet book’s claims

By Rod Nickel, GFM Network News May 29, 2015

Winnipeg | Reuters — The amount of protein in Canadian wheat has fluctuated little in 141 years, according to the most extensive study of its kind, countering claims that radical changes in the grain are making people sick. Dieters have shunned wheat, the key ingredient in bread, cookies and noodles, since the 2011 bestseller Wheat […] Read more

Columns, Crops, Livestock

Women advancing in agriculture

Sarah Weigum’s advice for young female Grainews readers in the ag industry 

By Sarah Weigum May 28, 2015

In the summer of 2011 I went to a combine clinic put on by our dealership. I had returned to the farm only a few months earlier and was still finding my footing in a new-again world. There was one other woman at this clinic and I remember thinking, “I don’t want to sit by […] Read more

Crops, Lentils, Markets, Pulses

Tight lentil market watching weather

By GFM Network News May 28, 2015

CNS Canada — Old-crop large green lentils saw a jump in price over the past week, but actual supplies are few and far between, with most market participants turning attention to new-crop opportunities and weather uncertainty across Western Canada’s lentil-growing regions. “The trade is very thin right now,” said analyst Chuck Penner of LeftField Commodity […] Read more

Crops, Reuters

Ukrainian N plants to shut, government pressure cited

By Reuters, GFM Network News May 28, 2015

Kiev | Reuters –– A company controlled by Ukrainian tycoon Dmytro Firtash said Thursday it was closing down its last two nitrogen fertilizer plants in Ukraine because of “unprecedented pressure” from the government which had deprived the plants of gas. A statement by his Group DF said the closure of the Cherkassky Azot and Rivneazot […] Read more

Crops, Markets, Reuters

U.S. grains: Corn rebounds on short-covering, bullish ethanol data

By GFM Network News May 28, 2015

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures on Thursday rebounded from a seven-month low after three days of declines in a short-covering bounce and following a government report showing higher ethanol output and lower stocks of the corn-based biofuel. Wheat futures were mixed as a weaker dollar and concerns about the outlook for crops in […] Read more

Accumulated rain on the Prairies for the period of May 1 to 26, 2015. (WeatherFarm.com)

Canola, Crops, Markets, Weather

Light rain on way for Prairie crops, but ‘soaker’ needed

By Rod Nickel, GFM Network News May 27, 2015

Winnipeg | Reuters –– Rain looks to splash parched farms on Western Canada’s Prairies over the next week as concerns mount that soil is too dry for canola to grow normally. Offsetting the concern somewhat is the region’s brisk pace of planting, which may wrap up by the weekend. The southern Prairies will be lucky […] Read more

Rainfall as a percentage of normal for the period of May 6 to 26, 2015. (WeatherFarm.com)

Crops, Weather

Dry Prairies await timely rains

By GFM Network News May 27, 2015

CNS Canada — Mounting dryness concerns in parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan are raising some concerns over crop development on the Prairies — but timely rains are in the forecast for early June. “The entire southern Prairie region hasn’t received normal rainfall for the last month to two months,” said Trevor Hadwen, an agro-climate specialist […] Read more

Crops, Wheat & Chaff

Timing your insecticide application for flea beetles

Get out and scout your fields early to look for defoliation and bite holes

By David Forster May 27, 2015

All things being equal, you want to come out of the season with as much of the plant stand you came in with. However, heavy flea beetle pressure during the cotyledon to the first or second true-leaf stage can take a big bite out your final yield. The secret to success in dealing with flea […] Read more

Canola, Crops, Markets, Weather

ICE weekly outlook: Weather to make or break canola market

By GFM Network News May 27, 2015

CNS Canada –– ICE Futures Canada’s canola futures moved independently higher during the week ended Wednesday, ignoring weakness in the Chicago soybean market. The generally tight supply situation for canola, a weak Canadian dollar and worries about dry conditions damaging some crops in Western Canada underpinned canola. Dry conditions in parts of the western Prairies […] Read more

Daily Network News

Iran says Strait of Hormuz open as Trump sees deal ‘soon’ to end war

Agriculture groups welcome seed, fertilizer approval bill

AAFC projects tighter canola stocks for 2026-27

Crops