The PPS, a two-row single-pass planter designed on a Manitoba farm is capable of handling a wide range of seed types. 


A one-pass, hybrid planter-drill born on the farm

Manitoba farmers debut their do-it-all planter designed for Western Canada

A look back at the origins of Western Canadian short-line ag equipment manufacturers would reveal one thing common to almost all of them: their founders were farmers making on-farm machine modifications or inventing new systems to achieve goals not possible with then-existing equipment. The new PPS single-pass planter on display at this year’s edition of […] Read more

As growers know, canola can be a very durable crop able to bounce back from heavy rain, insect pests and even to some extent hail events. It does have its limits, but despite adversity can recover amazingly well. With good agronomic practices and variable weather conditions the question is still to be answered — did any fields in the 2017 Canola 100 challenge produce that magic yield?

Extra canola inputs appear to pay off

That 100-bushel yield still a bit elusive, but growers are pushing their fields to the limits

David Harrish figures the extra agronomic attention he paid to a Canola 100 contest plot on his north-central Alberta farm in 2017 would probably pay off for the rest of his canola acres. Harrish, who dished out some extra TLC to about 70 acres of Pioneer Hi-Bred canola this past season, says it produced about […] Read more


Rob Saik says he is pleased with farmer participation in the Canola 100 challenge, and impressed with decent yields despite adverse growing conditions.

Drumroll for the 2017 Canola 100 challenge results

Results of the second year of the contest to find a 100-bushel canola yield to be announced this week

Is the “green” going home this year? That’s the question that will be answered this first week of December as the results of the 2017 Canola 100 challenge are revealed at the Agri-Trend Agrology Farm Forum conference in Calgary. This is the second year of the three-year Canola 100 contest challenging canola growers from across […] Read more

What does the harvest mean for the market?

What does the harvest mean for the market?

A look at the post-harvest impact on Prairie canola, wheat and malt barley markets

By October 12, snow was already falling for the second time in two weeks and harvest was only about 80 per cent complete in the Central Alberta area. Other that than, the fall for the most part was amazing and has allowed farmers across the Prairies to get the harvest off in record time. Harvest […] Read more



Black beetles on canola buds.

Looking back on 2017’s biggest growing challenges

Agronomy tips... from the field

Looking back on issues that growers had to deal with during the 2017 growing season, two things come to mind: insects and weather. In the spring, several regions across the Prairies experienced heavy flea beetle and cutworm pressure in their canola crops, along with some diamondback moth pressure later in the season. Keep in mind […] Read more


Canola south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 3, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

China’s Cofco seeks larger Canadian canola volumes

Winnipeg | Reuters — State-owned Chinese agribusiness Cofco Corp. looks to buy 2.5 million tonnes of Canada’s canola crop next year, a boost of more than one-third over its expected purchases this year as its Canadian office gets established, said the company’s global head of softseeds on Wednesday. Cofco opened its Canadian trading office in […] Read more

Farmer holding soybean

Cargill expands its ProPricing program

This pricing program is now available to western Canadian canola and soybean growers

Cargill is expanding its ProPricing grain marketing program to canola and soybeans growers in Western Canada for the 2017-18 season. Cargill has been offering ProPricing in Western Canada only for hard spring red wheat over the past four years, but felt it was a logical time to expand into other western Canadian grown commodities. “Basically, […] Read more


The canola plants were wilted, with roots that came to a gentle point. 
These damaged plants were randomly distributed throughout the field.

Crop Advisor’s Casebook: What happened to these canola roots?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the November 7, 2017 issue of Grainews

Dennis farms 3,400 acres of malt barley, wheat, yellow peas and canola near Vulcan, Alta. With canola samples in tow, he visited our office in early June. The plants he showed me were wilted, but had retained their green colour. However, it was the roots that caught my attention. They looked like they’d been put […] Read more

Record weekly canola exports reported

Record weekly canola exports reported

Winnipeg | CNS Canada – Canada exported the most canola in a single week ever during the week ended November 5, according to the latest Canadian Grain Commission report. The CGC pegged weekly canola exports at 470,200 tonnes of canola during the reporting period. That compares with average weekly exports over the past year of […] Read more