The bronzing within the crop wasn’t occurring just in the low areas, but was happening on slopes and in higher areas of the field as well.

Crop Advisor’s Casebook: The case of the bronzing lentils

A Crop Advisor’s Solution from the July 22, 2014 issue of Grainews

Rob, a mixed grain and cattle farmer east of Swift Current, Sask., went on a week-long fishing trip in mid-July. Upon returning to his 3,000-acre farm where he grows canola, lentils, durum and barley, Rob noticed the plants in one of his lentil fields were turning brown and appeared to be dying. He called me […] Read more


Red lentils. (Pulse Canada photo)

Early Sask. lentil, pea harvests likely to support prices

CNS Canada –– Saskatchewan’s dryness could likely mean an earlier harvest and smaller yield for pea and lentil crops this year, according to a regional crop specialist. That means new-crop prices will be supported, said Chuck Penner, president at LeftField Commodity Research. Old crops are disappearing, he said, and the market will become active as […] Read more

(Photo courtesy BASF SE)

Sources say BASF mulling potential bid for Syngenta

Reuters — German chemicals group BASF is considering a potential offer for Syngenta, its Swiss rival which has received a C$56 billion takeover offer from Monsanto, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. BASF is speaking to investment bankers about the possibility of an offer for Syngenta, though it has made no decision and […] Read more


West Central Road and Rail will sell its producer car loading sites, including this one at Beechy, Sask., for $22 million. (WCRR.ca)

Sask. producer car loader firm owners approve AGT bid

Shareholders in a western Saskatchewan producer car loading firm have approved a deal to sell their loading sites to Regina pulse processor AGT Food and Ingredients for $22 million. AGT announced Tuesday it has completed its deal, announced in April, to buy the bulk loading assets from Eston, Sask.-based West Central Road and Rail. The […] Read more

Laird lentils. (PulseCanada.com)

Tight lentil market watching weather

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



Red lentils. (Pulse Canada photo)

Record Prairie lentil area likely

CNS Canada –– Canadian lentil acres are expected to rise considerably this spring, with most of the increase in red lentils, according to industry participants. While the acres are going up, the opposite is likely in prices. “Everybody is looking for an increase (in lentil acres),” said Darren Lemieux of Simpson Seeds at Moose Jaw, […] Read more


root rot in a pea plant

Minimizing the impact of Aphanomyces

There are no in-crop solutions to root rot in peas and lentils. But there 
are ways to minimize your risk of losing yield to Aphanomyces

Given the wet springs and dry summers we’ve seen in recent years, Aphanomyces euteiches — Aphanomyces root rot — has become a real problem for pea and lentil growers. First confirmed in Saskatchewan in 2012 and then in Alberta in 2013, the disease has been slowly creeping across the country, destroying crops in its wake. Making […] Read more