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Canola caught in the doldrums, but a rally could break out

Farmers have seen their future earnings bleeding out for months. Anybody with unpriced canola has seen about a 20 percent drop in futures values since July. Cash prices are, of course, lower in this sort of environment.

It’s a bad way to enter winter and a puzzling one for some.

“It’s a bit of a mystery to me,” Stephen Nicholson, Rabobank’s Global Sector Strategist for Grains and Oilseeds, told me Nov. 27 as he was preparing for the GrowCanada conference in Calgary .

“Did the price get too high in 2022? Yes. Now we’re on the back side of that.”

The good news that Nicholson was taking to GrowCanada was that the outlook for canola prices is better than the present market is offering. There is new crushing demand for western Canadian canola and healthy export demand.

Across North America, demand for renewable diesel feedstocks like canola is surging. Currently, most demand comes from the West Coast, but more processing capacity is coming online in other parts of the continent as part of a long-term trend that is not abating.

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California Farm Bureau 2025 Farm Dog of the Year Contest Winner - Willy - CAFB 107th Annual Meeting

Video: California Farm Bureau 2025 Farm Dog of the Year Contest Winner - Willy - CAFB 107th Annual Meeting

Meet Willy: California Farm Bureau’s 2025 Farm Dog of the Year!

We’re excited to introduce Willy, a miniature long-haired dachshund with a big heart and even bigger courage, and the Grand Prize winner of this year’s Farm Dog of the Year Contest!

Willy may be small, but he’s become an indispensable partner on owner Marshal Hagedorn’s forestry and cattle operations in Shasta, Tehama, and Siskiyou counties. Adopted in 2023, he quickly found his place on the ranch, helping manage critters, tagging along for long days in the woods, and offering unwavering companionship during demanding logging work.

Willy has even taken naturally to moving cattle, surprising calves (and more than a few full-grown cows!) with his burst of energy from the tall grass. As Marshal put it: “He goes with me everywhere every single day.”

Congratulations to Willy and his family, a perfect example of how every good farm dog, no matter the size, helps keep California agriculture running strong.