Mustard growers relish price spike from supply squeeze

Reuters -- From Canada to India, there is a squeeze on mustard that has put producers in a pickle. Prices of the yellow condiment dabbed on hot dogs and pretzels have leaped to their highest level in seven years this autumn as growers in Western Canada, which supplies three-quarters of the world's traded mustard seed,[...]

High protein, high yields seen in early malt barley

CNS Canada -- High protein levels could prove a challenge for Canadian maltsters this year, but the quality of the country's malt barley crop is generally looking better than had been expected as harvest activity starts up across the Prairies, according to a broker. "Everything is high, high, high; high yields, high plump, high bushel[...]


Chickpeas see strength in early harvest returns

CNS Canada -- The chickpea harvest is slowly gathering steam across Western Canada with prices holding steady, despite the harvest pressure. In Saskatchewan, where the majority of the crop lies, one industry stakeholder estimated a fifth of the crop has been combined. "Chickpeas are 20 per cent complete or just nicely underway," said Colin Young[...]

Red varieties driving lentil acreage increase

CNS Canada -- As Canada's remaining old-crop lentils shuffle off to buyers overseas, interest is building in the potential for new crop in 2015. Chuck Penner of LeftField Commodity Research in Winnipeg said he expects more acres will be planted this spring as a result of the strong interest. "Oh, there'll definitely be more; the[...]


Pea growers weigh demand opportunities against root rot

CNS Canada -- Pea acreage in Western Canada could rise by five to 10 per cent this year, according to one industry expert, who notes root rot threatens to curtail that projection. Demand from India, China and Bangladesh is strong and that means total pea area could hit four million acres, said Carl Potts, executive[...]

Peas back at historical spreads in Western Canada

CNS Canada -- After two years of an abnormally large price spread between green and yellow peas in Western Canada, the relationship between the two crops is nearer normal levels. The yellow pea market has moved up a little in recent weeks, but the green market "is not that interesting," said David Newman of Commodius[...]


Patchy canola points to smaller crop, harvest dilemma

Winnipeg | Reuters -- Canola crops are rising across the Prairies like bad haircuts, reflecting multiple plantings and growth stages during a spring of frost and dry conditions. The most uneven canola crop in roughly a decade, according to provincial oilseed specialist Murray Hartman at Lacombe, Alta., points to lower yields in the world's top[...]

Guenther: Rain drops in on NW Sask.

Farmers and ranchers in northwestern Saskatchewan received much-needed rain late last week and over the weekend. Tom Brown raises cattle and is a crop reporter for Saskatchewan Agriculture and the reeve for the Rural Municipality of Mervin. His farm at Turtleford, about 80 km east of Lloydminster, received 11 mm of rain on Thursday night,[...]


Guenther: Alta. cutworms sought for mapping, posterity

If you're an Alberta farmer and your crops have got cutworms, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development wants to know. Scott Meers, an entomologist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, is asking farmers to report cutworms online. The province uses those reports to create an interactive map displaying cutworm sightings. Meers and provincial insect research technologist[...]

Alberta NDP taps ex-AAFC staffer as ag minister

A former technician with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has been named as the Alberta New Democrats' first minister of agriculture, forestry and rural development. Premier Rachel Notley on Sunday named Whitecourt-Ste. Anne MLA Oneil Carlier to the now-expanded portfolio, which takes over responsibility for forestry from the department of environment and sustainable resource development. Including Notley[...]