(Dave Bedard photo)

Higher canola, wheat production expected in StatCan report

Traders raise concerns about report accuracy

MarketsFarm — There was a consensus among several traders and analysts that Statistics Canada will very likely raise its estimates on canola and wheat production for 2023-24. Yields on the Prairies were better than expected following a difficult first half of the growing period, as the weather improved during the second half. StatCan is set […] Read more

Toby checks out a southern Manitoba sunflower field in this file photo. (Glen Hallick photo)

Manitoba sunflower yields better than anticipated

Some crops may be left over winter

MarketsFarm — With most of Manitoba’s sunflower harvest believed to be almost complete for 2023, yields have proven to be better than expected, according to Dennis Lange at Manitoba Agriculture. “I’ve heard good comments from some in the industry that the sunflower crop looks pretty good this year,” Lange said, noting Manitoba yields were estimated […] Read more


File photo of a partially harvested cornfield in Minnesota. (Emholk/iStock/Getty Images)

USDA’s WASDE report throws a few curveballs

Corn carryover up significantly

MarketsFarm — There were some surprises in the November world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, released Thursday. USDA defied trade expectations when it came to 2023-24 ending stocks of U.S. corn, soybeans, and all wheat, with those being higher. As well, the department came in above what the […] Read more

File photo of Canpotex potash cars. (Dave Bedard photo)

More affordability, usage of fertilizers in 2024, analyst says

Israel's fertilizer output normal for now

MarketsFarm — While global fertilizer prices were projected to be steady to higher in 2024, overall affordability is set to improve while usage will increase, according to one analyst. Samuel Taylor, a New York City-based farm inputs analyst for RaboResearch Food and AgriBusiness, delivered a presentation on the fertilizer market during the firm’s Fall Harvest […] Read more


File photo of Rabobank’s office building in Utrecht. (Rabobank.com)

More acres expected for soybeans, canola, Rabobank says

RaboResearch arm sees Canada's exporters 'struggling' with margins

MarketsFarm — Farmers in the U.S. will seed more soybeans in 2024-25, with Canadian canola plantings also expected to rise to a lesser extent, according to a grains and oilseeds analyst with RaboResearch Food and AgriBusiness, a division of the Dutch multinational bank Rabobank at the firm’s Fall Harvest Outlook webinar. During the Wednesday webinar, […] Read more

One Canada Square (tower at centre) houses the London head office of the International Grains Council (IGC). (Iliffd/iStock/Getty Images)

Cuts to corn output drag IGC’s overall estimates lower

Wheat production estimate up, soy down

MarketsFarm — Reductions to global corn production for 2023-24 resulted in the International Grains Council cutting some of its numbers in its monthly supply and demand report issued Thursday. The London-based IGC reduced its forecast for world corn output from its September call of approximately 1.222 billion tonnes, to 1.219 billion. Although total use in […] Read more


(Christophe Paul photo courtesy USDA)

CBOT weekly outlook: Markets react bullishly to USDA report

Corn, soy production estimates revised lower

MarketsFarm — Most of the October world agricultural supply/demand estimates (WASDE) released Thursday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) came out lower than trade expectations, causing price jumps on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). “Many people were not expecting a major (average) yield change,” Ryan Ettner, trader for Allendale Inc. in McHenry, Ill. […] Read more

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

Pulse weekly outlook: Smaller yields than last year in Saskatchewan

Pulse production seen varying by location

MarketsFarm — Yields and crop conditions from this year’s pulse harvest in Saskatchewan largely varied by location, according to SaskPulse executive director Carl Potts. “Generally on the east side of the province and some areas of the south, some pretty good yields. And then in the west-central, southwest regions, some yields that were quite low. […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

U.S. wheat, barley production increases in 2023

MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued its small grains 2023 summary on Friday, showing a 10 per cent increase in all wheat production in 2023 of 1.81 billion bushels. While oat production dipped one per cent at 57 million bushels, barley output rose six per cent at 185 million. U.S. wheat in 2023 […] Read more