Farm Department Cuts Wheat, Ups Canola View

Jul 06, 2011

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Canada's agriculture department slashed its production forecast for wheat, but raised its canola outlook, while warning that overall crop stocks will drop to a record low this summer.

Agriculture Canada released its grain and oilseed outlook, which is based on analysis not a farmer survey, late on Tuesday.

The department lowered its estimates of seeded area for most crops to account for a wet spring that left millions of unplanted acres. The downsized area resulted in Agriculture Canada's reduced harvest outlook versus its June 7 report.

The department forecasts larger harvests for major crops than last year, other than for wheat excluding durum. That crop category is mainly made up of spring wheat and Ag Canada expects production to reach 20 million tonnes, down less than one percent from last year.

Agriculture Canada cut its harvest estimate for all-wheat to 24 million tonnes from June's forecast of 25.5 million tonnes.

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Video: Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes | Field Talk Friday

Field Talk Friday | Dr. John Murphy | Root Exudates, Soil Biology, and How Plants Recruit Microbes

Most of us spend our time managing what we can see above ground—plant height, leaf color, stand counts, and yield potential. But the deeper you dig into agronomy, the more you realize that some of the most important processes driving crop performance are happening just millimeters below the surface.

In this episode of Field Talk Friday, Dr. John Murphy continues the soil biology series by diving into one of the most fascinating topics in modern agronomy: root exudates and the role they play in shaping the microbial world around plant roots.

Roots are not passive structures simply pulling nutrients out of the soil. They are active participants in the underground ecosystem. Plants constantly release compounds into the soil—sugars, amino acids, organic acids, and other molecules—that act as both energy sources and signals for soil microbes.