With eye on China, Canadians will plant more wheat, less canola
Canadian farmers plan to slash canola plantings by 7 percent this year because of a trade clash with China and to greatly expand their sowings of spring wheat, said Statistics Canada on Wednesday.
To ease merger, Bayer expects to sell some of its seed business
The head of Bayer’s Crop Science division told a German newspaper that the company expects to sell some of its cotton and canola seed business in order to gain approval of its takeover of Monsanto, reported Reuters. The $66 billion merger of the two companies would create the largest seed …
Growers embrace some GMO crops, but only give GMO alfalfa a handshake
Two decades after the first GMO crops were approved for cultivation, nearly half of U.S. cropland is planted with genetically engineered seeds, chiefly corn, soybeans and cotton. Farmers have greeted GE canola and sugarbeets with ardor, but alfalfa is the wallflower at the GMO party, says a USDA report.
GMO canola ‘volunteers’ found in Perth suburbs
Farmers in Western Australia grow GMO and non-GMO varieties of canola with safeguards in place to prevent commingling of the strains. The reliability of the safeguards was questioned after "volunteer" GMO canola plants were discovered growing along roadsides in four Perth suburbs, far from the nearest grain farm, said The Western Australian newspaper.
In erosive Palouse, wheat growers look for soil-holding crops
Karl Kupers was an early convert to no-till wheat in the arid and erodible Palouse region of the U.S. Northwest, where wheat is dominant, says a reader-funded story on Flux.
Canada harvests bumper oilseed crops
Canadian farmers harvested their sixth record soybean crop in a row and their second-largest canola crop, said Statistics Canada, with the harvest season over. The canola crop was 11 percent larger than the previous StatsCan estimate in October and was 1 million tonnes more than traders expected. Canola is Canada's major oilseed, at 15.6 million tonnes this year, down from 18 million tonnes last year. Soybeans totaled 6 million tonnes this year, up 13 percent from 2013.
Near-record canola imports despite bumper US crop
U.S. growers will harvest a record 2.5 billion pounds of canola this season, thanks to above-average yields and near-record plantings, says USDA in its Oil Crops Outlook report.
Scientists publish genome sequence for canola
An international team of scientists published the genome of canola, the second most-widely grown oilseed in the world and a source of desirable omega-3 fatty acids.
More canola and soybeans planted than wheat in Canada
Canadian growers reduced their wheat sowings by 7 percent from 2013 and put more land into canola and soybeans, says Stats Canada.
Mustard genes may help canola battle blackleg
The Ethiopian mustard plant could be used to help canola varieties resist the fungal disease blackleg, says a researcher at the University of Alberta.