Insights and Stories on Crops

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:56 pm CDT

(Resource News International) — Expectations for tighter supplies down the road should keep oats reasonably supported compared to other grains. “For the long-term, oats are fundamentally bullish,” said Ryan McKnight of Linear Grain at Carman, Man., noting that the carryout for 2009-10 is expected to be below the five-year average. […]

By Phil Franz-Warkentin

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:41 pm CDT

July 9 — Financial markets were mixed to up slightly today as some of the earnings reports coming out from major companies such as Alcoa aren’t quite as bad as some were expecting. The U.S. dollar dropped 0.9 cents today and the Canadian dollar rose three-quarters of a cent, closing […]

By Brian Wittal

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:32 pm CDT

A new type of canola plant, with tiny “hairs” on its leaves and stem to disrupt flea beetles’ feeding patterns, may allow growers to skip an insecticide application. Researchers led by Margie Gruber at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Saskatoon Research Centre inserted genes from a “hairy” model plant, Arabidopsis, into […]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 5:04 pm CDT

The board of Quebec’s professional agronomists’ body, l’Ordre des agronomes du Quebec (OAQ), has named Rene Mongeau, a regional crop and environment consultant for the provincial ag department, as its new president. Mongeau works in the Monteregie-Ouest region and plans to take early retirement in September, according to the Quebec […]

Jul. 9, 2009 at 4:02 pm CDT

A University of Saskatchewan graduate student’s work with sound waves in snow may improve forecasts of floods and runoff for farmers’ use. Previous measurements of a snowpack’s properties have involved shoveling, which wrecks the snowpack’s structure and layers, prevents measurement at the same site more than once, and also can’t […]