Cash prices for flax across Western Canada ranged from C$13.91 to C$16.48 per bushel delivered as of Jan. 15, reported Prairie Ag Hotwire. That compares with canola bids of C$13.65 to C$14.01/bu.

Trade deal could boost new crop prices

The recent Canada/China trade deal that reduces China’s tariffs on their imports of Canadian canola is unlikely to have any effect on old crop flax prices, said Scott Shiels grain procurement manager for Grain Millers Canada in Yorkton, Sask.

However, Shield said “it could affect flax pricing for next year.”

Flax plantings

With Prairie farmers making their plans for spring seeding, Shiels said it’s likely flax acres will increase in 2026/27.

In 2025/26, more than 620,000 acres of flax went into the ground, up from about 504,000 in 2024/25, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. That produced 454,000 tonnes of flax this fall compared to 258,000 the previous year due in part to a stronger yield.

Farmers need premium

However, Shiels cautioned that any increase in canola prices don’t necessarily guarantee higher prices for flax.

“If canola rallies to $16/bu. then $16 flax isn’t good anymore,” he said. “We tend to want to see a couple of bucks per bushel premium compared to the canola market to get that flax into the ground.”

Shiels said Canada needs to grow more flax as to cut down on the amount imported. AAFC estimated 8,000 tonnes were brought in during 2024/25 and that increased to 10,000 tonnes in 2025/26.

“I’d rather see our Prairie farmers reaping the benefits from that,” he said.

The post A good year for flax could lead to more acres in 2026/27 appeared first on Farmtario.

“A really good flax crop this year. Acres were up and the quality on an overall basis was definitely better than what we have seen in at least five years, maybe 10,” Shiels added.

He said there’s a possibility of more flax being planted come spring.

Why it matters: flax can be a suitable alternative to canola

Statistics Canada reported earlier in December that Prairie farmers brought in an estimated 454,460 tonnes. That’s up from nearly 258,000 tonnes combined last year and well above the five-year average of about 383,700 tonnes. Virtually all of Canada’s flax is produced on the Prairies.

“It’s been a good year, a little bit of a resurgence for flax,” Shiels said, noting the increase in flax largely came at canola’s expense.

Good prices

While Canadian flax production pales in comparison to the record 21.80 million tonnes of canola harvested in 2025, Shiels said there are a few factors favouring flax going into 2026.

One of those is pricing. Shiels said flax continues to maintain its premium over canola of C$2 to C$3 per bushel, despite the flax pulling back from around C$20/bu. for brown flax to about C$17.

“(Flax) is down a couple of bucks off of the highs that we saw at harvest time and in the late summer,” Shiels said.

Good pricing also fueled the increase in flax production this year, as farmers were able to lock in for C$19/bu. versus C$14 to C$15 for canola, he continued.

Shiels said the demand for flax is strong, particularly when it comes to the bakery and health food markets. Also, the United States hasn’t imposed a tariff on its imports of Canadian flax.

“Flax isn’t for everybody,” Shiels warned. “It’s a little tougher to market and it’s a lot tougher to grow.”

Looking ahead

However, he wasn’t sure if flax prices would improve between now and when spring planting begins in 2026.

“If canola prices stay where they are, we could see another bump up in flax acres,” Shiels said, adding that it depends on flax’s premium over canola. “If that remains when the new crop pricing comes out, we will see (an increase).”

Although canola’s outlook is currently bleak, as the market grapples with this year’s record harvest grapples versus poor exports, Shiels suggested any increase in canola prices could push up flax prices “just to try to stay competitive.”

Shiels said he welcomes more increases in flax production as the North American market doesn’t produce enough and relies on imports.

“We’d love to see flax acres back on the Prairies,” he said. “We would like to buy local.”

Flax production 2024/25 2025/26

Planted hectares 203,800 250,900

Harvested hectares 204,100 249,100

Production (tonnes) 257,974 454,461

Yields (tonnes per hectare) 1.28 1.82

Source: Statistics Canada

The post ‘A little bit of a resurgence for flax’ appeared first on Farmtario.

StatCan published its major grain deliveries report for August 2025 on Sept. 25. In total, 3.588 million tonnes were delivered compared to 4.329 million in August 2024. The agency noted that tariffs placed on Canadian goods headed to the United States may have an impact on deliveries.

All wheat deliveries in August totaled 2.259 million tonnes compared to 2.321 million one year earlier. For durum, 279,584 tonnes were delivered last month, up from 244,560 tonnes in August 2024.

Canola deliveries fell below one million tonnes for the first time since August 2023, dropping to their lowest monthly total since May 2022. StatCan reported 621,555 tonnes of the oilseed were delivered in August, compared to 1.32 million tonnes in August of last year.

August barley deliveries were 379,238 tonnes, slightly more than the 375,071 tonnes delivered in August 2024. For oats, 278,097 tonnes were delivered, up from 267,271 tonnes one year earlier. Rye deliveries were up from 29,375 tonnes in August 2024 to 38,098 last month. Flaxseed deliveries were down from 15,127 tonnes in August 2024 to 11,953 tonnes a year later.

Saskatchewan provided 36.6 per cent of all deliveries, followed by Manitoba with 22.2 per cent and Alberta at 20.4 per cent.

The post August grain deliveries down from 2024: StatCan appeared first on Farmtario.

While some areas received little to no rainfall, other places saw more than 60 millimetres, including Windygates in the central region (72.4 mm), Ninette in the southwest (62 mm) and Zhoda in the east (54 mm).

Northwestern and eastern Manitoba, as well as the Interlake, have large areas where accumulated precipitation since May 1 is below 50 per cent of normal. Most of central Manitoba and the southwest are at 70 per cent or less, while some places received more than 80 per cent of the 30-year average.

Spring wheat quality was rated at 90 per cent good to excellent across the province with the Interlake showing the best rating at 60 per cent excellent. The earliest seeded spring wheat is in anthesis. Meanwhile, winter wheat and fall rye are in the grain fill stage, while most corn fields are in the V8 to V10 stages. Barley and oats range from stem elongation to head emergence. Fungicide applications to prevent Fusarium head blight are still ongoing.

A long seeding window meant the earliest seeded canola is in full flower while late-seeded canola is in the four-leaf stage to rosette. Also, the earliest seeded flax fields are flowering while late-seeded fields are up to 15 centimetres tall and are budding.

Field peas have flowered in most areas, with the earliest seeded fields having progressed to the R2 and R3 stages and beginning to pod. Soybeans planted early are in the R1 and R2 stages, while those planted later are in the V3 to V5 stages.

Pasture conditions vary across the province, with dry and grasshopper-damaged areas found in the east, southwest, the Interlake and the Rural Municipality of Kelsey in the northwest. Beef hay quality has been good in areas with sufficient moisture, but some fields in the east, Interlake and the RM of Kelsey are seeing yields as low as 25 per cent of normal. While some dairy producers in eastern Manitoba are anticipating a second cut of hay, others in the Interlake don’t expect one unless there is substantial rainfall. Corn for silage is faring well, even in drier areas.

Cattle on pasture are in good condition, but fly pressure and foot rot were observed. Water levels in dugouts and natural waterways are lower than normal, with some at 50 per cent capacity.

The post Manitoba Crop Report: Rains not enough to curb dryness appeared first on Farmtario.

The federal agency issued its principal field crop area report on June 27, estimating farmers planted nearly 21.46 million acres of canola. That’s a dip of almost 0.9 per cent from its March estimate, down 2.5 per cent of what was sown in 2024/25, and about 1.2 per cent under the five-year average.

There was a feeling in the trade that more canola would be planted due to an upswing in canola prices, but StatCan noted concerns about the growing conditions on the Prairies and especially ongoing trade issues are possibly reasons why there’s a dip in canola acres.

Also, StatCan revised its estimate on 2024/25 canola production, raising it from 17.4 million tonnes to now 19.2 million.

Meanwhile, StatCan’s call on flax acres did an about face with the agency now saying more was seeded in 2025/26 rather than less. StatCan placed flax acres just short of 620,000 compared to the 448,000 estimated in March and the 503,000 planted last year.

Mustard as well had a turnaround, up 19.6 per cent from March, but at almost 360,000 acres it will still be well short of 606,000 sown a year ago.

As for all wheat, at 26.93 million acres StatCan said slightly more was planted this year than the 26.65 million previous year. However, the latest call is down two per cent from March.

Spring wheat acres of almost 18.81 million are down 3.2 per cent from earlier but a pinch below the 18.94 million planted last year.

Those for durum are up 2.5 per cent from March at 6.53 million, and 2.6 per cent more from 2024/25.

Winter wheat acres increased to 1.58 million from 1.34 million last year.

1 acre = 0.405 hectares

The post Canadian farmers planted fewer canola acres than expected, StatCan projects appeared first on Farmtario.

“Old crop really jumped up here through the month of May,” Shiels said. “That hopped things from around $18 (per bushel) to as high as $25.”

He added that prices for new crop rose from C$16 to about C$20/bu.

Although Shiels wasn’t exactly sure as to why flax prices increased last month, he credited it in part to some buyers being caught short of the oilseed.

However, Shiels noted an increase in planted acres, which would normally push prices lower. He said additional acres was due in part to the dryness in western Saskatchewan.

But initial estimates called for one of the smallest flax crops in quite some time.

Going into the 2025/26 crop year, Statistics Canada projected 181,400 hectares of flax to be planted by Canadian farmers. That would be down by more than 12 per cent from 2024/25.

If StatCan’s estimate were to hold, it would be the smallest planted flax crop since 1949 when farmers seeded 125,900 hectares. The most flax planted was in 1957 at 1.41 million hectares.

Meanwhile, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada estimated flax production for 2025/26 at 230,000 tonnes, down from the previous year’s 258,000. If AAFC’s projection holds, it would make for the smallest harvest since 1950 when farmers reaped 126,000 tonnes.

Canada’s largest flax crop came in 1970 with almost 1.22 million tonnes.

In AAFC’s outlook, it projected Canadian flax exports of 200,000 tonnes, down from 250,000 in 2024/25. Total domestic use is to come to 90,000 tonnes, a 2,000 dip from last year. Ending stocks are to fall from 90,000 tonnes to 40,000.

The post Flax retaining May gains appeared first on Farmtario.

The current pace stood 12 points above the five-year average, rather remarkable given the amount of rain Manitoba received over the last eight days.

For cereals, the report said most of the province’s spring wheat has been seeded, while oats and barley catching up. Also, the winter wheat and fall rye were in average to above average condition.

Among the oilseeds, the planting of sunflowers was more than 80 per cent finished, with canola and flax at 30 per cent each.

Manitoba Ag placed soybeans at 40 per cent planted.

For the pulses, field peas reached 96 per cent complete while dry beans were getting started.

The department noted the largest amount of rainfall was 88.5 millimetres in the Morden area, down to 3.2 mm in the Elma area.

The cooler temperatures Manitoba has experienced has slowed forage growth, but that and pasture conditions are expected to improve. However, in the province’s southeast recent wildfires adversely impacted pastures and infrastructure.

Nearly all of Manitoba’s corn for silage or for grazing has been planted.

The ag department reported a number of pests are active, including striped and cruciferous beetles, dingy cutworms, wireworms in the central region. In the Interlake, flea beetles are becoming more common and there have been low counts of diamondback moths in traps.

The post Manitoba seeding 12 points ahead of pace appeared first on Farmtario.

In the report released on April 17, AAFC’s kept 2024/25 canola exports at 7.500 million tonnes. However, the Canadian Grain Commission reported that day those year-to-date exports reached 7.381 million tonnes with 16 weeks remaining in the marketing year.

Among the slight alterations AAFC included was nudging up all wheat exports by 100,000 tonnes to 26.25 million, as well as corn to 2.400 million and soybeans to 5.600 million. Also, the department trimmed 2024/25 domestic use for corn by 100,000 tonnes at 15.041 million and cut that for soybeans by 200,000 tonnes at 2.265 million.

AAFC eased back 2024/25 all wheat ending stocks by 100,000 tonnes to 4.300 million, and the same for durum at 500,000. Meanwhile, the carryover for soybeans was bumped up 100,000 tonnes at 675,000.

The post AAFC tweaks monthly data, but holds canola exports appeared first on Farmtario.

StatCan said deliveries of all grains last month were just short of 4.70 million tonnes, up 3.7 per cent from previous February. Total wheat comprised the largest amount at 2.55 million tonnes, an improvement of 4.4 per cent from a year ago. Of that, durum accounted for 481,167 tonnes, rising 25.4 per cent from February 2024.

Deliveries of canola rose 11.5 per cent at almost 1.62 million tonnes.

(Source: Producer deliveries of major grains)

Grain        Feb2024     Feb2025     Up/Down

All Grains  4,531,342   4,698,708    +3.69%

Total Wheat 2,444,872   2,551,384    +4.36%

Durum Only    383,767     481,167   +25.38%

Oats          267,551     188,978   -29.37%

Barley        336,283     312,120    -7.19%

Rye            11,509     11,909     +3.48%

Flax           19,138     15,936    -16.73%

Canola      1,451,990   1,618,380   +11.46%

The post Higher deliveries in most grains reports StatCan appeared first on Farmtario.

Total harvest progress hit 55 per cent complete, which was up from 40 per cent the previous week. Harvest operations were the most advanced in the central region, at 68 per cent complete, while the northwest lagged at 39 per cent done.

The grain harvest was nearing completion, with spring wheat at 87 per cent complete, barley at 88 per cent and oats at 86 per cent. Spring wheat yields ranged from 60 to 90 bushels per acre provincially, while barley was in the 90 to 115 bu./ac. range and oats at 80 to 180 bu./ac.

Canola was 49 per cent harvested, with swathing and pre-harvest operations ongoing. Sunflowers were in the R8 to R9 stages of development in good condition, while flaxseed was mostly in stage 12.

The dry bean harvest was in its early stages at 25 per cent complete, with yields ranging anywhere from 500 to 3,500 pounds per acre. Soybeans were in the R7 to R8 growth stage.

Overall forage and pasture growth was more than last year due to early season moisture, said the report noting “pastures rarely look this good in September and are still producing regrowth.”

The post Manitoba harvest passes halfway mark: report appeared first on Farmtario.