(Bruce Fritz photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Sunflowers down, but not out in Western Canada

CNS Canada — Canadian sunflower plantings will be down in 2017, but perhaps not by as much as the official government estimate. Statistics Canada forecast the country’s sunflower area at only 50,000 acres in its planting intentions report. That would be down from 70,000 the previous year and the second-lowest acreage base of the past […] Read more

Farmer Brian Derksen seeds wheat on May 2, 2017 near Miami, Man., about 80 km south of Portage la Prairie. (Screengrab from Allan Dawson video)

Prairie seeding off to ‘shaky start’

CNS Canada — Western Canada will likely see some favourable seeding conditions in the short term, one meteorologist says, though wet pockets in some areas need longer to dry out. “We are getting off to a little bit of a shaky start in some spots, but it looks like the weather pattern is going to […] Read more



(Dave Clark photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

U.S. grains: Corn firms on short-covering

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures climbed about two per cent on Monday on short-covering ahead of the Midwest planting season and chart-based buying, analysts said. Wheat futures were also higher on short-covering while soybeans closed almost flat, retreating from early advances. Chicago Board of Trade May corn settled up 7-1/2 cents at $3.67 […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

Some farmers already seeding in southern Alberta

CNS Canada — Some farmers in southern Alberta are seeding earlier than normal this spring, thanks to some recent warmer weather. “Some guys are just starting to turn a wheel in southern Alberta,” Harry Brook, crop specialist with Alberta’s provincial Ag-Info Centre in Stettler, said Thursday. Soil temperatures are still not very warm, so more […] Read more