Weather-related rallies remain a possibility for spring wheat.

Traders shed long positions in grain, oilseed futures

The canola trade is now net short for the first time in two years

Broad swings in global energy and financial markets in the first week of July led to erratic activity in grains and oilseeds. Many commodities saw large amounts of speculative money flushed out as concerns over a possible global recession sparked a round of long liquidation. ICE Futures canola fell to its weakest levels in more than five months but was showing signs of



Crop conditions swiftly advance, heavy rains damage crops

Crop conditions swiftly advance, heavy rains damage crops

Manitoba Crop Report: Issue 10, July 12, 2022

Overview Crops have advanced rapidly across all parts of Manitoba this past week, faster than many agronomists had expected. Rapidly growing crops have hastened crop flowering, and cereal and canola fungicide application is well underway. Warm temperatures, high humidity, and rain in recent days has increased the risk for fusarium head blight and sclerotinia disease



File photo of a rapeseed field in southern China’s Yunnan province. (YuenWu/iStock/Getty Images)

USDA attaché alters call on China’s ending stocks

MarketsFarm — Ahead of the July world supply and demand estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), due out Tuesday, the department’s attaché in Beijing put forth its forecast changes. The attaché lowered ending stocks for China’s new-crop soybeans and rapeseed, while it increased the carryover for new-crop corn and wheat, in reports released

Two striped grasshopper with wing buds.

Now is the time to scout for grasshoppers

Early identification and control can prevent damage, reduce costs

Manitoba Agriculture entomologist John Gavloski says 2022 might be a good year to bone up on grasshopper identification. “We’ve been over this in the past, but being a grasshopper year, it doesn’t hurt to refresh on grasshopper ID,” he said. Grasshopper nymph feeding damage has been reported in many crops in the southwest and central


Canada needs a new in-depth approach to the Indo-Pacific region and that’s important to agriculture.

Is Canada’s coming Indo-Pacific strategy too little, too late?

Canada has high hopes to grow its agriculture trade in the Indo-Pacific region but strategists say Canada must look beyond trade or face continued irrelevance

If Canada wants to continue to grow its agriculture trade in one of the fastest growing regions of the globe, it needs a new strategy. It needs to reconsider its ‘trade mission’ diplomacy strategy in the Indo-Pacific region and become relevant to the countries there. “Economic interests can no longer be separated from broader foreign

Huge canola prices likely finished

Huge canola prices likely finished

Attention is now turning to new crop prospects, which are brighter

Barring a major catastrophe in the global oilseed market, the days of canola soaring to $1,200 per tonne are destined for the history books. With trading in the old crop July contract withering, it careened downward by almost $320 after hitting its high of $1,219 per tonne. New crop November canola plummeted nearly $236/tonne, sitting



Rusty patch bumblebees are native bees that are now listed as an endangered species.  
photo: USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab/Creative Commons

Another bad season for bees

Experts explore the reasons for bee population declines -- and ways to mitigate the problem

Beekeepers reported high losses over the winter and experts are exploring the reasons and seeking ways to mitigate future colony declines. Ian Steppler, president of the Manitoba Beekeepers Association, said Manitoba’s losses this year are extremely high. “We’re nearly at a 60 per cent loss right across Manitoba right now, the highest loss in Canada