Spearmint being harvested at Quattro Ventures farm in southeastern Alberta. Photo: Quattro Ventures

How a southern Alberta farm maintains mint condition

Quattro Ventures grows mint for the essential oils market and had a lot to learn about the agronomics for this specialty crop

An estimated 25 per cent of North America’s mint oil is now the product of a southeastern Alberta farming business, but don’t get the idea that commercial mint production is a job for the faint of heart.

File photo of a federal office building in downtown Winnipeg. (Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC projecting canola ending stocks to tighten

New-crop wheat ending stocks figure boosted

MarketsFarm — Canadian canola ending stocks in both the current marketing year and upcoming 2023-24 season will be tighter than earlier estimates, according to supply/demand projections from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) on Tuesday. Factoring in Statistics Canada’s latest acreage estimates and its data for stocks as of March 31 — figures both released in […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC supply/demand estimates mostly unchanged

Wheat exports up, but domestic usage cut

MarketsFarm –– Supply/demand estimates for Canadian crops were largely left unchanged in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) latest projections, with only the wheat numbers seeing small adjustments in the report released Tuesday. Projected Canadian wheat exports for the 2022-23 marketing year were raised to 24.3 million tonnes, up by 200,000 from the February estimate. Domestic […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC ups wheat production, usage numbers; stocks steady

MarketsFarm — Projected ending stocks of Canada’s major crops were left relatively unchanged in the latest supply/demand estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, released Monday, although there were some revisions to the wheat production and usage numbers. The government agency raised its forecast for total Canadian wheat production in 2022-23 to 33.092 million tonnes, up […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC adjusts grain, oilseed balance sheets slightly

MarketsFarm –– Updated supply and demand tables from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released late Friday, included only minor adjustments to balance sheets for the country’s major crops. The department’s projected ending stocks for wheat and canola were left unchanged from the previous month. Factoring in the official estimates from Statistics Canada, released Dec. 3, […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Slight adjustments in AAFC’s April supply/demand report

MarketsFarm — Updated supply and demand estimates from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, released Tuesday, included only minor adjustments to balance sheets for most major crops. Statistics Canada releases its first survey-based acreage estimates for the upcoming growing season on Tuesday next week (April 27), which should lead to adjustments in subsequent supply/demand projections. Canola ending […] Read more


Hapag-Lloyd containers at a shipping terminal in Hamburg in March 2017. (File photo: Reuters/Fabian Bimmer)

Pulse industry watching container supply closely

One major container firm is shipping them back to Asia empty to meet a surge in demand

Pulse Canada is keeping an eye on container supplies following the recent announcement by a major supplier it would be shipping them back empty to Asia from North America to meet a surge in demand. Why it matters: Canadian pulse crop exporters rely on shipping containers to get their products to international customers. A lack […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Canada’s wheat ending stocks projections raised

MarketsFarm — Canadian wheat ending stocks for the current 2020-21 marketing year are forecast to be larger than earlier expectations, according updated supply/demand estimates Thursday from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. All-wheat ending stocks for 2020-21 are now forecast at 6.3 million tonnes, which compares with the September estimate of 5.9 million. The total wheat carryout […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

Tighter canola stocks, more wheat in updated ag department tables

MarketsFarm — Updated supply/demand tables released by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on Wednesday include only minor adjustments to stocks and usage numbers, with slightly tighter canola ending stocks and a small increase in wheat supplies. Canola ending stocks for 2020-21 are forecast at 2.7 million tonnes in the updated tables. That would be down from […] Read more