Worst crop in 15 years not bad financially for some

Good prices and good crop insurance coverage helped

Warren McCutcheon is too young to recall much about the 1988 drought, but based on stories he’s heard, he suspects a combination of factors resulted in many Manitoba farmers faring better after the 2021 drought. The 1988 drought, dubbed at the time ‘the worst since the Dirty ’30s,’ triggered $790 million ($1.57 billion in today’s

U.S. grain firm Scoular is expanding its reach in the flax market with a new processing plant just outside Regina. (Scoular.com)

Scoular fires up flax processing near Regina

Plant to process flax for food- and feed-grade markets

U.S. grain handler Scoular’s Canadian arm has opened a new flax processing operation at its site just southeast of Regina, into what it describes as a record-strong flax market. Scoular Canada on Wednesday announced the opening of its “high-speed” flax line at Richardson, Sask., where it already processes and cleans lentils, peas and canary seed.



Growers wanted for fertilizer survey

Crop alliance and Fertilizer Canada teaming up on grower survey

Manitoba Crop Alliance and Fertilizer Canada are again looking for Manitoba farmers to complete a survey on their fertility practices — this time in corn, sunflower and flax crops. Manitoba Corn Growers Association, now part of the MCA, partially funded a similar survey in 2017 for corn and canola. In a media release the MCA


(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC adjusts grain, oilseed balance sheets slightly

MarketsFarm –– Updated supply and demand tables from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), released late Friday, included only minor adjustments to balance sheets for the country’s major crops. The department’s projected ending stocks for wheat and canola were left unchanged from the previous month. Factoring in the official estimates from Statistics Canada, released Dec. 3,

(Xinzheng/Getty Images)

New China import rules bring headaches for food, beverage makers

Cooking oil, milled grains among foods moved to higher-risk categories

Beijing | Reuters — Makers of Irish whiskey, Belgian chocolate and European coffee brands are scrambling to comply with new Chinese food and beverage regulations, with many fearful their goods will be unable to enter the giant market as a Jan. 1 deadline looms. China’s customs authority published new food safety rules in April stipulating


(Dave Bedard photo)

Canola declines, durum drops in new StatsCan estimates

Soybean, oats estimates raised

MarketsFarm — There were very few surprises in Statistics Canada’s latest principal field crop production estimates released Friday — the first in 2021-22 to use a survey of producers. Nevertheless, they quantified just how severe last summer’s drought was in Western Canada. Canola production for the 2021-22 marketing year was estimated to be 12.595 million

Two-striped grasshopper.

Grasshoppers and flea beetle key pests of 2021

Conditions encouraged outbreaks, dampened effects of control strategies

If producers were hoping for a break on flea beetles and grasshoppers this year, they didn’t get it. Both made the highlight reel for the most serious pest damage in the province, according to a seasonal summary released by Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development in early November. In both cases, it’s a continuation of a


The Prairie Innovation Centre is expected to repurpose the Valleyview Building on ACC's North Hill campus.

Crop Alliance commits $100,000 to Prairie Innovation Centre

ACC says centre is latest step in drive to become a national leader in a griculture education

The Manitoba Crop Alliance (MCA) has committed $100,000 to the Collaboration Zone within Assiniboine Community College’s Prairie Innovation Centre for Sustainable Agriculture. The Collaboration Zone is touted as a spot where education and industry will meet. MCA represents five key commodities in the province: spring and winter wheat, sunflowers, corn, barley and flax. “The birth

(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC lowers canola export forecast

Domestic canola usage raised; other crops largely unchanged

MarketsFarm — Canadian canola exports during the 2021-22 marketing year are forecast to be smaller than earlier projections, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) reported late Friday. Domestic usage, however, was raised in the report, keeping ending stocks of the crop steady with the October forecast. Total Canadian canola exports in 2021-22 are now forecast at