ICE July 2022 canola (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and November 2022 canola (black line). (Barchart)

ICE weekly outlook: Highs might be in for old-crop canola

New crop in 'a very uncertain stage'

MarketsFarm — The highs may be in for old-crop canola contracts on the ICE Futures platform, with attention in the market turning to the new crop. “I think the market has probably defined the upside potential and the acute demand rationing that needed to occur is done,” said Jerry Klassen, an independent commodity trader and […] Read more


File photo of a pea crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Pulse weekly outlook: Still early in season to switch crops

Decisions likely in next couple of weeks

MarketsFarm — With dry conditions dominating western and southwestern Saskatchewan and wet conditions prominent in the province’s east and northeast, at mid-May it remained early to consider switching pulse crops to something else, according to Carl Potts, executive director of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. Overall, he said, spring planting throughout the province as of May 9 […] Read more

Spring planting poses a risk to transmitting HPAI from wild bird feces, and it’s recommended that farmers take proper precautions to prevent it from entering a poultry premise.

Avian influenza continues to break across province, Canada

Concerns rise over spring planting contributing to spread

Despite the best efforts to quell its rise, the highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) has hit 20 Ontario poultry operations and backyard flocks as of early May.   It’s been seven years since highly-pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been detected in Canada, but it’s returned with a vengeance this year. Commercial and backyard flocks in […] Read more

Corn seedlings in southern Ontario in 2021. (Farmtario photo by John Greig)

Spring planting well underway in Ontario

MarketsFarm — Farmers are well into seeding their crops for 2022, according to Wednesday’s crop report from Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). The report noted planting of corn, soybeans and spring cereals started late last week — the exception being where there are heavier soils. OMAFRA projected planting could be 80 […] Read more


(OceanFishing/iStock/Getty Images)

CBOT weekly outlook: Markets react to USDA supply/demand estimates

Wheat data 'surprisingly supportive'

MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday released its monthly world agriculture supply/demand estimates (WASDE) — the first to show estimates for the 2022-23 marketing year — and markets reacted quickly. Ryan Ettner, a broker for Allendale Inc. at McHenry, Ill., said that while figures for corn and soybeans were in line […] Read more


Viktor and Sergiy Shipov say they’ll harvest a crop this year, despite the challenges from the war. (Photo: Ihor Pavliuk/Oleksandr)

Farming behind the lines: Growers in Ukraine plant amid hostilities close by

'We started the sowing campaign by removing rockets from the field'

Viktor and Sergiy Shipov are used to adversity. Viktor established a farming company in southern Ukraine 20 years ago, in the Mykolaiv Oblast, where hellish heat and lack of rainfall can make the land look like the Sahara Desert with yellow dunes. This is a corner of the classic Ukrainian steppe, where rainfall is very […] Read more


CBOT July 2022 corn (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn, soybeans ease on expected planting progress

Weather in U.S., India, France adds to Ukraine wheat supply fears

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures fell on Monday to five-week lows as warmer U.S. weather expedited planting progress, deflating fears of added soybean acres and further cuts to corn plantings, traders said. Wheat remained underpinned by dry conditions in the U.S. and French growing belts, reinforcing global supply concerns. The most-active Chicago Board […] Read more

(Government of Alberta via Flickr)

Alberta seeding ahead of five-year average

MarketsFarm — While spring planting in Alberta is 12.2 per cent complete overall there’s a disparity between the south and the rest of the province. Also, the pace was 2.6 points above the five-year average, but 5.2 behind last year. As of Tuesday, Alberta Agriculture found seeding in the south was at 36.5 per cent […] Read more