a frost-damaged soybean seedling.\

Factors affecting spring frost damage in crops

There’s frost in the long weekend forecast. Don’t panic if it it happens, advises Anastasia Kubinec, oilseed specialist with Manitoba Agriculture Food and Rural Development

Don’t assume because there is frost (or snow) on the ground, that your emerging crop is dead. With the drop in temperatures in the past couple of days and the risk of frost on the May long weekend there are a few things to keep in mind if the mercury dips below 0 C. The

canola seeding

Canola trade seen remaining choppy until seeding done

U.S. corn, soy and wheat will keep trading on the weather

The ICE Futures Canada canola market started off the week ending May 8 with a bang, seeing gains of nearly C$10 per tonne on Monday (May 4). But that’s where the excitement ended. The following days were all pretty uneventful, with quiet activity that led to prices chopping around within a fairly narrow range. Some


mature winter wheat crop

Canada’s wheat yield gains compare well to world

In Manitoba from 2000 to 2012, wheat yield gains outpaced 
those for canola


There have been opinions expressed in the media claiming the rate of yield gain for wheat in Western Canada is low compared to that of the rest of the world. However, a survey of the data suggests that’s not the case. Rob Graf, a wheat breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre, says

wheat grains

NDSU warns Elgin wheat sales could be in violation of breeders rights

Some U.S. seedsmen may be approaching Canadians to sell them certified Elgin-ND seed

FP Genetics is the only legal source for Elgin-ND pedigreed seed in Canada and this spring all its seed is going to Western Canadian seed growers to produce certified seed for commercial production in 2016. Those who try to get seed from American suppliers are breaking plant breeders’ rights laws and face heavy penalties, warns


weeds growing in soil

Glyphosate resistance: Change now or pay later

A USDA-ERS report shows managing glyphosate resistance is more cost effective than ignoring resistance and farmers need to work together

The United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service recently published the results of a study into the economics of glyphosate-resistance management on U.S. corn and soybean farms. Through surveys and computer models it determined the relative costs of ignoring the problem versus taking action to address it. The following is an excerpt from that



canola seed pods

Canola trade already looking past acreage estimate

However, fewer acres could mean tight supplies to come

ICE Futures Canada canola contracts held narrowly rangebound during the week ended April 24, but managed to move higher overall, with the biggest gains in the new-crop months. Statistics Canada’s acreage intentions report, released April 23, provided the big news for the week as far as canola was concerned. However, even the first official acreage

auger moving corn by auger

Unintended consequences of U.S. biofuel policy

Corn and soy for ethanol were grown on marginal land which could have emitted 
as much carbon dioxide as 34 coal-fired power plants

Clearing grasslands to make way for biofuels may seem counterproductive, but University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers show in a new study that crops, including the corn and soy commonly used for biofuels, expanded onto seven million acres of new land in the U.S. over a recent four-year period, replacing millions of acres of grasslands. The study


bags of maize

Small farms maintain crop diversity

Rather than preserving ‘heirloom’ varieties, 
they participate in an ongoing process of outcrossing

As much as 75 per cent of global seed diversity in staple food crops is held and actively used by a wide range of smallholder farms, many of which are close to urban areas, says a geographer from Penn State University. Karl Zimmerer and his colleagues looked at new census data from 11 countries in

Canada - U.S. border crossing

Everything you ever wanted to know about shipping grain to the U.S.

Online publication includes info on weight restrictions, phytosanitary certificates and more

Canadian and American grain companies have a new resource to assist them when buying or transhipping grain to or through each other’s countries. The goal is to expedite grain trading between the two nations and beyond following the elimination of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk. “We’ve seen all sorts of border challenges in other