(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC revises crop estimates

Export, new-crop production outlooks revised lower for flax

MarketsFarm — Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) on Friday released its February supply and demand estimates with numerous small changes. AAFC held its projections for 2022-23 grains and oilseeds production at 89.489 million tonnes. As for exports, the department reduced them from 45.715 million tonnes last month to now 45.49 million. Furthermore, domestic usage was

Humanitarian aid provided by Palestinian Arabs is distributed at northwestern Syria’s Deir Ballut and Muhammadiyah camps near the Turkish border on Feb. 13, 2022. (Photo: Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto via Reuters)

Pulse weekly outlook: Earthquake to have little effect on pulse markets

Such disasters don't often blow back on agrifood commodity costs

MarketsFarm — The earthquake that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria on Monday last week, taking the lives of more than 40,000 people, may not have a major effect on pulse markets, according to one analyst. Jon Driedger from Leftfield Commodity Research in Winnipeg said that while natural disasters like an earthquake can take on


The president of Quorum Corporation is concerned about a bottleneck of grain-shipping vessels on the West Coast.

Grain is moving, but problems persist

Systemic issues surrounding grain shipments have yet to be addressed

Grain shipments are moving better than they were this time last year, but that’s not saying much. “Last year was awful,” Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA) executive director Wade Sobkowich said. “We had some major deficiencies in rail service between January and March of 2022.” Indeed, things were so bad in the winter of 2022

Chickpeas. (CalypsoArt/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Chickpea stocks down; lentils, dry peas up

Chickpea prices unchanged before report

MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada on Tuesday tallied up increases in commercial and on-farm stocks of both lentils and dry peas, in its report on grain stocks as of Dec. 31, 2022. Unlike those two pulses, however, StatCan reported total stocks of chickpeas decreased, at 185,000 tonnes in December 2022 compared to 311,000 in December 2021.


(CPR.ca)

Absence of issues leads to January record for grain movement

CN, CP so far see 'calamity-free' 2022-23

MarketsFarm — So far this winter grain movement in Canada has yet to incur few — if any — major problems that have stymied rail shipments, according to Mark Hemmes, president of Quorum Corp., which tracks rail movement in Canada. Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway (CP, CN) have been doing good jobs during

Dr. Digvir Jayas. (University of Manitoba photo)

Acclaimed Manitoba stored grain researcher now Alberta bound

Digvir Jayas named president at University of Lethbridge

A leading Canadian researcher and expert in safe storage of grain is headed westbound and up to the head office at another Prairie university. Dr. Digvir Jayas, currently on sabbatical as professor and vice-president (research and international) at the University of Manitoba, will become president and vice-chancellor at the University of Lethbridge effective July 1


Crops capable of fixing their own N from the atmosphere avoid the issue of nitrous oxide emissions altogether.

Plant pulse crops for lower emissions

More pulses? Less nitrous oxide: Avoid the emissions problem altogether by growing more nitrogen-fixing crops

Mario Tenuta, a soil science professor at the University of Manitoba and research chair in 4R nutrient management, wants to see more nitrogen-fixing legumes in Prairie field crops. After all, one way to avoid nitrous oxide emissions is planting crops that need little or no commercial nitrogen. “When any form of nitrogen is added to

(Serts/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: India looking for lentils, large Australian crop in play

India extends zero-rate tariff

MarketsFarm — An extension of zero-rate tariffs on lentils moving into India for another year should be a clear sign that the country is in the market for imports. However, Canadian lentil sales to India face stiff competition, with a large Australian crop likely to limit movement going forward. India announced at the end of


“The little worm gets inside the root and injects something into the vascular tissue of the plant. This actually changes the biology of those plant cells and they start producing food for the nematode. It’s fascinating.” – Greg Tylka, Iowa State University.

SCN: The new tough guy on the block

Soybean cyst nematode’s survival mechanisms make it difficult to monitor and control

Soybeans arrived in Manitoba in the early 20th century, but it took another 100 years for them to become a major crop. Now, almost two decades into the 21st century, an old enemy from the homeland has finally followed. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is already a serious pest in the soybean belt of the American Midwest. It is

“Don’t be happy to have one set of resistance genetics available for your farmers. Keep working to develop that second one because that first one will eventually wear out.” – Greg Tylka, Iowa State University.

Tracing roots for a strategy against soybean cyst nematode

How soybean ancestors helped scientists tease out SCN resistance

If there’s an answer to soybean cyst nematode, it may lie in the soybean family tree. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN) has been a tough problem since it first appeared in North America back in the 1950s. It’s a soil-bound pest so it can’t be sprayed. Instead, the solution must be found through biology—finding a weak