potato crop

Manitoba potato acreage seen steady in 2015

Demand for processing potatoes is stable to up slightly in North America

It’s too early to make definitive statements about potato acreage in Manitoba in 2015, but Keystone Potato Producers Association manager Dan Sawatzky expects that if anything, it may go up slightly. “I think we’re pretty confident that we can say that,” he says. In 2014, Manitoba acreage totalled 63,340 acres, of which 45,000 were processing,


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

Canadian Prairie wheat bids drop with U.S. futures

Average Canada Prairie Red Spring (CPRS) bids were down by $17 to $19 per tonne compared to the week prior

Cash bids for Canadian wheat were down during the week ended April 10, as losses in the U.S. futures weighed on values. Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat prices were down by $8 to $10 per tonne, with bids ranging from $200 per tonne in north-central Saskatchewan to $219 per tonne in Manitoba, according

bread display on a table

VIDEO: The many definitions of bread

Bread is on one hand one of the world’s most common foods, but on the other hand one of the most varied. In this video, staff at the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) talk about the different types of bread around the world, and how they work with customers to determine the best type of


Recipe Box

Where do you get your recipes?

Prairie Fare: Reduced-Fat Morning Glory Muffins

Let’s starting cooking!” I said with enthusiasm to my daughter. “Mom, what’s the difference between cooking and baking?” my 11-year-old daughter asked. We were about to bake some bread, so I think she was associating cookies and breads with baking. My husband chuckled when he saw me wrinkling my brow and pondering her question. Is

Francois Labelle speaking at CropConnect

Pulse Growers adds soybean to name

There is still more research to be done on soybeans at the regional level

What’s in a name? A lot. To that end, the Manitoba Pulse Growers Association will now be known as the Manitoba Pulse & Soybean Growers. “Since soybeans are not a true pulse, we figured this was a good way to go,” said executive director Francois Labelle as he announced the change at CropConnect in Winnipeg

1974 advertisement for a phone answering machine

A “black year” for Canadian grain shipments

Our History: November 1974

You could lease this automatic telephone answering machine advertised for $28.30 per month ($131.47 in 2014 dollars) in our Nov. 28, 1974 issue. The editorial that week talked about a “black year” for Canadian grain shipments. Our front page reported yet another strike, this time by grain inspectors. This followed strikes by Great Lakes vessel


one dollar banknote among wheat grains

Editorial: The cure for high grain prices is…

When you get right down to it, covering grain markets is kind of like sports reporting. Depending on your perspective, the outcome at the end of the day is either win, lose or tie. There’s only so many ways to describe that, just as there are only so many ways to describe why the market

man speaking at a conference

China still an important factor

Exports remain key to Canada’s commodity sector as prices fall back to earth

Profits on grains and oilseeds might be down, but it’s no reason to panic. Speaking at Farm Management Canada’s Agriculture Excellence conference in Winnipeg, Farm Credit Canada’s chief economist said the high prices of recent years were never destined to become the new normal. “The sky is not falling, it’s not falling at all,” J.P.