(Dave Bedard photo)

Pandemic to delay StatsCan’s agriculture reports

MarketsFarm — Farmers, commodity traders and market analysts will have to wait a while for agriculture-related reports from Statistics Canada in 2020. The main reason for the delay is the COVID-19 pandemic, said John Seay, an analyst with StatsCan’s agriculture, energy, environment and transportation statistics branch in Ottawa. “Given the COVID-19 outbreak, senior management is […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Cattle inventories continue to decline, StatsCan says

Canada's hog herd also down on year

MarketsFarm — Canada’s cattle herd in 2019 continued on its generally consistent path of declining numbers, according to new data Statistics Canada released Tuesday. Aside from a few slight increases in 2012, 2013 and 2018, Canadian cattle inventories have moved lower since 2005. At 11.2 million head, the reported number of cattle on farms in […] Read more


(Greg Berg photo)

Oat area poised to rise

MarketsFarm — Solid prices and growing demand — and risk aversion among growers — should see more oat acres seeded in Canada in 2020, with early signs pointing to the largest oat crop in more than a decade. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada predicted 2020 oat area at 3.93 million acres in its January report, which […] Read more

File photo of canola under snow in October 2016. (Lisa Guenther photo)

Unharvested crops skew StatsCan stocks data

MarketsFarm — Canadian canola stocks were slightly tighter at the end of the 2019 calendar year compared to the previous year, according to updated Statistics Canada data. However, adverse harvest conditions left a large amount of the crop unaccounted for in the survey, which skews the overall supply/demand outlook. “Because of poor weather conditions during […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

Flax prices likely to remain flat

MarketsFarm — Although autumn snowfall limited the quality of a lot of Prairie flax, its price has remained flat, according to Brian Johnson of Johnson Seeds at Arborg, Man. While Johnson has seen some instances of No. 1 flax, he said most of what he’s seen has graded Nos. 2 and 3. “The premiums are […] Read more


Pinto beans. (Vergani_Fotografia/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Edible bean yields lower across North America

MarketsFarm — A challenging harvest season spelled trouble for dry bean yields across North America, according to one report from the Global Pulse Confederation. Mexico’s spring-summer bean crop yield was pegged at around 400,000 tonnes, which was 52 per cent lower than the previous year. The loss in production was largely due to drought conditions […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC lowers canola ending stocks forecast

MarketsFarm — Canadian canola ending stocks will be much tighter than earlier thought, according to updated supply/demand tables which were released late Thursday by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and account for the latest production numbers from Statistics Canada. AAFC’s projected canola ending stocks for 2019-20 were lowered to 3.5 million tonnes, which compares with the […] Read more


(JohnnyMad/Getty Images)

Variable yields supportive for mustard prices

MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada’s principal field crop production report last week estimated a significant drop in Canada’s 2019 mustard production. In September, the agency estimated Canadian mustard would total about 141,000 tonnes. However, due to challenging growing conditions and a slight reduction in acreage, the StatsCan estimates released Friday were revised downward to 134,600 tonnes. […] Read more