File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Rising protein demand expected in 2020

Canada able to serve both plant- and animal-based protein markets

MarketsFarm — Demand for plant- and animal-based proteins alike is likely to increase in the coming year. Since 2017, pea protein demand increased by about 13 per cent, Craig Klemmer, chief agriculture economist at Farm Credit Canada, said at Ag Days in Brandon, Man. Over the same time period, demand for canola protein increased by […] Read more


Forecaster Drew Lerner speaks at Ag Days 2020 in Brandon. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Alexis Stockford)

Favourable growing conditions forecast for major ag regions

MarketsFarm — Canadian producers looking for challenging growing conditions elsewhere in the world to prop up commodity prices may be disappointed during the 2020 growing season. South America “If you’re looking for any help from South America for your canola or soybeans or corn, you’d better look somewhere else,” Drew Lerner, president of World Weather […] Read more

The affected canola plants were stunted and had prematurely ripened. When I pulled up a few plants to look at the roots they appeared normal.

Crop advisor casebook: What’s causing these undersized, odd-coloured canola stems?

A Crop Advisor's Solution from the January 21, 2020 issue of Grainews

John, who grows mainly wheat, canola and peas on his farm near Canora, Sask., called me in late August to report a problem his swather operator had spotted while swathing a canola field. Within the field, he said, there were numerous patches with canola plants that were undersized and had odd-coloured stems. John hadn’t seen […] Read more


Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou leaves B.C. Supreme Court on a lunch break during her extradition hearing in Vancouver on Jan. 22, 2020. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

Improving global ag trade may not favour Canada

MarketsFarm — When it comes to improving global trade relations, a rising tide may not lift all boats. In the recently-signed Phase One trade deal between the U.S. and China, Beijing pledged to significantly increase Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and other agriculture goods. “Where does that leave room for Canada, given the demand side […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

CGC revises domestic canola usage downward

MarketsFarm — Domestic canola demand remained well ahead of exports in the latest Canadian Grain Commission report for the week ended Sunday — but revisions to data now show the crush pace is not quite as active as reported earlier in the month. The original data for the week ended Jan. 5 showed domestic disappearance […] Read more



Corteva Agriscience, which spun off from the merged Dow and DuPont in 2019, got its canola seed breeding lab and research station in Saskatoon from the Dow AgroSciences end of the merger. (Video screengrab from Corteva.ca)

Supercluster backing canola protein production

The federally-backed research and development “supercluster” set up to boost Canada’s protein industries is funding work to wring more and better proteins out of canola seed. In Saskatoon on Wednesday, federal Industry Minister Navdeep Bains announced the Protein Industries Canada (PIC) supercluster has approved a new $27.6 million project to breed high-protein canola hybrids for […] Read more


ICE March 2020 canola with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Canola off highs, rangebound

MarketsFarm — ICE Futures canola contracts tested long-time chart resistance during the week ended Wednesday, but failed to break higher and retreated to hold rangebound overall. The Phase One trade deal signed Wednesday between the U.S. and China failed to give the grain and oilseed markets a boost, as the vague details of the actual […] Read more