Market management key in volatile times

A new provincial cost-of-production guide appears to project tough margins, but price volatility could mean opportunity

Market volatility calls for constant vigilance even as producers plan for the coming year, says provincial farm management specialist Darren Bond. Bond said prices are the most volatile they’ve been in years, and a “huge concern” for producers planning this year’s crops. “There will be highs and lows as the year goes on,” he said.

“We’re very diverse in Manitoba. The specialty crop sector is growing so I think our acres (of pedigreed seed) are going to be pretty solid.” – Andrew Ayre, MSGA

Manitoba loses pedigreed seed acres crown

Edged out by Alberta, Manitoba should rebound in 2020 if soybean plantings come roaring back

Manitoba’s long-held title as Canada’s top pedigreed seed producer ended in 2019. After seven consecutive years in top spot Alberta edged Manitoba out by just 8,468 acres, figures in the Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association’s (MSGA) 2019 annual report show. Alberta seeded 349,411 acres of pedigreed seed last year versus Manitoba’s 340,942 acres, putting it in


ILTA Grain’s insolvency has resulted in a record payout to farmers and a new precedent to how they’re treated when they’re owed money.

Canadian Grain Commission pays ILTA farmers $11.1 million

It’s a record payout through the Canadian Grain Commission’s farmer-security program

After six months of intense work the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) has wrapped up its biggest claim for a compensation case in history. Two hundred and twenty-two ‘eligible’ farmers will get all they were owed — $11.1 million — following ILTA Grain going into creditor protection last summer. Cheques were issued Jan. 6. That’s the

Bill Grueul, CEO of Protein Industries Canada, addresses reporters January 10 as Jim Carr, Prime Minister Trudeau’s special representative for the prairies, and Merit Functional Foods co-CEO Ryan Bracken look on.

Supercluster pumps $9.5 million into Winnipeg plant

Merit Functional Foods to open world’s first canola protein-processing facility late this year

A Merit Functional Foods canola and pea protein-processing facility near Winnipeg is slated to be up and running by the end of the year with the help of financial investment from Protein Industries Canada, the company announced at a news conference January 10. “Our plan is to build processing closer to production, adding value to


(Photo courtesy Canola Council of Canada)

CGC revises domestic canola usage downward

MarketsFarm — Domestic canola demand remained well ahead of exports in the latest Canadian Grain Commission report for the week ended Sunday — but revisions to data now show the crush pace is not quite as active as reported earlier in the month. The original data for the week ended Jan. 5 showed domestic disappearance



Corteva Agriscience, which spun off from the merged Dow and DuPont in 2019, got its canola seed breeding lab and research station in Saskatoon from the Dow AgroSciences end of the merger. (Video screengrab from Corteva.ca)

Supercluster backing canola protein production

The federally-backed research and development “supercluster” set up to boost Canada’s protein industries is funding work to wring more and better proteins out of canola seed. In Saskatoon on Wednesday, federal Industry Minister Navdeep Bains announced the Protein Industries Canada (PIC) supercluster has approved a new $27.6 million project to breed high-protein canola hybrids for

A Chinese ship is loaded with soybeans at the Brazilian Port of Santos.

Crush margins, currency, charts show support for canola futures

South American soybean production could bring pressure

Canola values were well supported during the first full trading week of 2020 and have the potential to rally $10-$15 higher. Technical charts have projected canola values reaching $490-$495 per tonne. Some growers have throttled back on selling their product to wait and see if this price range will be realized. Barring sharp sell-offs in



(Cropscience.bayer.ca)

DeKalb pulls two ‘inconsistent’ canolas off market

Up against an “inconsistency of grower experiences” with the seeds’ yields in 2019, Bayer Canada is yanking two of its DeKalb TruFlex canola hybrids from the market. DeKalb’s DKTF 92 SC and DKTF 94 CR will not be available for 2020, Bayer said. Canola growers who have already booked those seeds for this spring are