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File photo of a sunflower crop in Manitoba. (MysticEnergy/Getty Images)
Crops, Markets

Strong demand supports sunflowers

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MarketsFarm — Global demand for sunflower oil is steadily increasing, according to Scoular’s Robert Deraas. Deraas, director of the Scoular Co.’s sunflower and bird food division, explained Wednesday at CropConnect in Winnipeg that the majority of Canadian sunflowers are grown for oil purposes. Increases in demand are driven largely by health-conscious consumers who use sunflower […] Read more
Members of the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association voted 66-16 at CropConnect on Feb. 13, 2020 in favour of their group’s merger into the Manitoba Crop Alliance. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Geralyn Wichers)
Crops

Manitoba growers approve five-way commodity group merger

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Manitoba grain growers represented by five separate commodity organizations have voted to greenlight a merger they now expect to make official by August. A total of 165 ballots were cast Wednesday and Thursday during the groups’ annual general and special meetings at the CropConnect conference in Winnipeg, with members at the various events voting between […] Read more
(Yassine Chaachoua/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops

Manitoba’s sunflower crop under threat from weather

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MarketsFarm — Manitoba’s sunflower crop has been compromised by the snow that fell over Thanksgiving weekend, but it’s not yet clear what percentage of the crop will be impacted. Before the snow fell, windy and rainy weather took a toll on the sunflower crop. The soil was oversaturated to the point that sunflower roots couldn’t […] Read more
The USDA building in Washington, D.C. (Art Wager/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops

Most oilseed estimates down in USDA’s October outlook

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MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its monthly oil crops outlook on Tuesday featuring reductions in global rapeseed and sunflower production and U.S. soybeans. USDA estimated global rapeseed production at 68.6 million tonnes, a decline of one million, with the lion’s share of the losses in Canada. Canadian production for 2019-20 was […] Read more
Tim Hortons had a nationwide rollout for Beyond Sausage Egg + Cheese, Beyond Sausage Farmer’s Wrap and Beyond Sausage Lettuce Tomato sandwiches on its breakfast menu in June 2019. (CNW Group/Tim Hortons)
Crops

Tim Hortons retreats from Beyond

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Tim Hortons is dialing back its Beyond Meat marketing in Canada and will keep the plant-based meat substitute on its sandwich menus in Ontario and British Columbia alone. The coffee-and-donut chain, an arm of Toronto-based Restaurant Brands International and Canada’s biggest fast-food chain by number of outlets, first test-marketed breakfast sandwiches with the U.S. company’s […] Read more
A sunflower crop in Manitoba. (MysticEnergy/Getty Images)
Crops, Markets

Sunflowers doing well despite drought

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MarketsFarm — Though many producers bemoan current drier-than-normal springtime conditions across the Prairies, sunflower crops are primed for a good year. “As long as there’s enough moisture to germinate, they immediately grow a really deep root system,” said Ben Friesen of Scoular Canada. While Statistics Canada estimated the 2019 sunflower acreage to remain pretty much […] Read more
(GZKele/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops, Markets

Sunny days seen ahead for sunflower crops

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MarketsFarm — Though sunflowers were at the mercy of Western Canada’s unseasonable weather in 2018, the 2019 growing season may be more predictable. In November 2018, some Manitoba sunflower crops were late to come off the field. A cold and rainy fall delayed the Prairie harvest, lowered average yields and impacted the overall size of […] Read more
Cracked soybeans enter a SunOpta soymilk processing plant at Modesto, California. (Video screengrab from SunOpta.com via YouTube)
Crops

SunOpta sheds U.S. Midwest organic corn, soy business

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Organic food firm SunOpta Inc. has stepped out of the U.S. organic corn and soybean business in a $66.5 million deal with Minnesota-based organic startup Pipeline Foods. Mississauga-based SunOpta announced Monday it closed a deal with Pipeline last Friday for the Canadian firm’s organic and “specialty” soy and corn operations, which include five plants in […] Read more
(GZKele/iStock/Getty Images)
Crops

Cold, wet weather delays Prairie sunflower harvest

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CNS Canada — For sunflowers it was a tough year that began with dry conditions at seeding time, then more dry weather in July and August, only to be topped off by a cold, wet fall. The quality of sunflowers, however, is said to be pretty good in Western Canada. Darcelle Graham, executive director of […] Read more

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