CNS Canada — What’s really happening with this year’s flax crop is going to be revealed in the next few weeks as farmers get into their fields. Statistics Canada predicted in a production report, released Aug. 31, that both Saskatchewan’s and Canada’s flax production this year would be 13.7 per cent less than in 2016. […] Read more

Lower Prairie flax production, decent quality expected

Farmers to deal with stronger loonie for rest of 2017
CNS Canada — Higher interest rates and a stronger Canadian dollar relative to U.S. currency is giving Canadian farmers a double whammy. According to Farm Credit Canada’s chief agricultural economist, it’s also a situation farmers will likely have to deal with for at least the remainder of the year. J.P. Gervais said he thinks farmers […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Corn, soy rally as focus moves to new crop
CNS Canada — Traders in corn and soybean futures might well have been hoping for a repeat of history at the start of Thursday’s trading session. On Aug. 31 last year, corn prices scraped bottom and then rallied, moving from harvest lows. If they were hoping, they got it. A similar rally dominated Chicago Board […] Read more

If NAFTA ain’t broke, don’t fix it, pork sector says
CNS Canada — As talks begin toward reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement, John Ross of the Canadian Pork Council repeats what many in the pork and beef industries in Canada and the U.S. have been saying all along: First, do no harm. “The worst thing that could happen to us was if we […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: Corn, soy struggle under heavy supplies
CNS Canada — Corn and soybean traders continue to assess the fallout from last week’s world supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The monthly report stunned analysts with predictions for U.S. corn yields at 169.5 bushels per acre, and soybean yields of 49.4 bu./ac. “That just destroyed the market,” said Scott […] Read more

Harvest weather outlook offers reasons to cheer
CNS Canada — Farmers on the Prairies can expect decent weather for this harvest season, according to Drew Lerner, meteorologist and founder of World Weather Inc. Most farmers will experience periodic showers, he said, but shouldn’t be subjected to the continual drizzles and sheets of rain that caused heartaches last year. “Most of the Prairies […] Read more

Manitoba’s bean harvest on track
CNS Canada — Manitoba’s dry edible bean crop should come in this harvest with numbers roughly the same as last year, from where a provincial specialist sits. “This year, I would say right now, depending on how things settle out in the next little while, we’ll be at least equal to last year, if not […] Read more

Malt barley outlook promising, but harvest quality will be key
CNS Canada – Many questions remain about Western Canada’s malt barley crop, but many analysts appear to expect at least an adequate harvest. Quality concerns and yield reductions will hit farmers in southern areas, but for those with good quality, prices should remain at least steady for the medium term. While analysts cautioned that forecasts […] Read more

Durum forecasters predict steady and strong market
CNS Canada – For farmers able to nurse their durum across the finish line this harvest, prices in the winter could make it worth their while. Withering heat and dry conditions have taken a toll on durum yields, especially in southern regions of the Prairies, but analysts like John Duvenaud of the Wild Oats Grain […] Read more

Prairie soybeans growing well ahead of key pod-filling time
CNS Canada — The way things stand now, soybeans look to continue their strong push into Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The key pod-filling time in late July and early August will ultimately decide, but soybean fields in both provinces are doing well so far. In Manitoba, which planted almost 2.23 million acres of soybeans — a […] Read more