(Dave Bedard photo)

Statistics Canada boosts crop production estimates

MarketsFarm — Updated model-based production estimates on Thursday from Statistics Canada expect larger yields for most of the major crops grown in the country — and while harvest operations are still ongoing, the actual crops may end up larger still. “All of the numbers are bigger, whether it’s durum, spring wheat, canola,” said analyst Mike […] Read more

A corn crop west of Grunthal, Man. on Aug. 17, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan forecasts near-record corn crop

MarketsFarm — Canada’s corn crop is forecast to be the second largest on record despite a delayed start to spring planting, as yields showed an improvement from earlier forecasts, according to updated production estimates Thursday from Statistics Canada. Using a combination of satellite imagery, previous survey data, and agro-climatic data, the latest Statistics Canada report […] Read more


With phosphorus, less might be plenty

With phosphorus, less might be plenty

A long-term trial shows repeated phosphorus applications don't correlate with higher yield

You could be over-indulging your crops — and it might be costing you. New Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) research indicates crops growing in soils consistently treated with applied phosphorus (P) take more than their necessary share. With a steady abundance of the nutrient, soil microbes that work to make P more available to the […] Read more



(Jennifer Blair photo)

Hemp yield uncertain ahead of harvest

MarketsFarm — While Canada’s licensed hemp acreage nearly doubled from 2018 to 2019, yield estimates will remain uncertain until licensed producers report their crops to Health Canada after harvest. “Health Canada, for the first time, will be collecting information on hemp acres that were seeded, rather than hemp acres that were licensed,” said Ted Haney, […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canaryseed Development Commission of Saskatchewan)

Saskatchewan canary seed crops may not recover

MarketsFarm –– Canary seed crop yields may be hampered by dry early summer conditions, and rain that didn’t come quite soon enough. Saskatchewan’s west-central region, home to the lion’s share of the province’s canary seed crops, received very little rain during the spring and early summer. “That area was beyond recovery when the rain finally […] Read more

CBOT July 2019 corn with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn nears four-year high

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures neared a four-year high on Thursday, buoyed by worries about yield prospects for the delayed crop and firm cash markets, analysts said. Soybeans also advanced as weather worries threatened to curtail U.S. production of the oilseed, and wheat futures followed the firm trend. Chicago Board of Trade July […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

December StatsCan report could vary from years past

CNS Canada — After this fall’s long, drawn-out harvest, some analysts predict Statistics Canada’s final Production of Principal Field Crops numbers could vary from the usual pattern. StatsCan’s report, due out Thursday, is a “very uncertain” report “because that was probably one of the most bizarre falls we’ve ever had on the Prairies,” said Ken […] Read more

(GZKele/iStock/Getty Images)

Cold, wet weather delays Prairie sunflower harvest

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