Statistics Canada’s model-based report is based in part on data from sensors on the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) series of satellites. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), shown here for Sept. 16 over an NOAA satellite map of North America, is used to gauge surface vegetation content. (OSPO.noaa.gov)

Canola, wheat crop size hiked in StatsCan’s view from space

CNS Canada — Statistics Canada raised its production estimates for most crops across Western Canada in its latest report released Wednesday. Unlike traditional StatsCan reports using information gathered from phone surveys, the model-based report was based in part on coarse-resolution satellite imagery collected during the month of August. The model-based report has only been in […] Read more



A double rainbow over a Manitoba soybean field. (ImagineGolf/iStock/Getty Images)

Smaller Manitoba soybean crop expected

CNS Canada — Like most crops grown this year, Manitoba’s soybean yields were also highly variable in 2018. While early reports point to smaller production overall, lower-than-average yields won’t translate to higher prices, given prospects for a large U.S. crop. Manitoba soybean yields are “anywhere from 20 to 50” bushels per acre, said Mark Jorgenson […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Large Canadian canola ending stocks expected

CNS Canada — Canada’s canola ending stocks as of July 31 came in at about a million tonnes above the previous year’s carryout — but were still well within trade expectations. Canola supplies as of July 31 were estimated at 2.391 million tonnes by Statistics Canada on Thursday, with 954,000 tonnes of that in commercial […] Read more

Looking for disaster yellows

Looking for disaster yellows

There has been few incidences this year, but aster yellows can cause high yield losses

This year I have travelled extensively around Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta and I have not seen a single canola plant with aster yellows (AY). A friend of mine said she found one plant only, in Saskatchewan in canola. Contrast this with 2012 when this phytoplasmic disease of canola, wheat, barley, flax, potatoes and probably all […] Read more


(Peggy Greb photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Ontario bean production seen well above StatsCan estimate

CNS Canada — Ontario bean growers are voicing skepticism of Statistics Canada’s Aug. 31 bean production estimates. Estimates by the Ontario Bean Growers organization suggest farmers are poised to harvest about 101,495 tonnes this year — 28.5 per cent above the Statistics Canada number of 79,000 tonnes. OBG chair Jim Gowland said his organization reaches […] Read more

ICE’s ticker symbol on display at the ICE-owned New York Stock Exchange in March 2016. (Photo: Reuters/Brendan McDermid)

ICE weekly outlook: Yields still up in the air

CNS Canada — ICE Futures canola contracts recovered off of nearby lows over the week ended Wednesday, but failed to rise to the same extent as the product values as the commodity remains expensive compared to other oilseeds. With the harvest underway across the Prairies, traders are focused on yield estimates and the size of […] Read more