Canola Prices Breaking Records

Canola prices have been breaking records.

 

Jon Driedger is vice-president with LeftField Commodity Research.

 

"Truly this canola market is unprecedented. We are well into record highs and far beyond. It really is quite something. Essentially it's a market that's just desperately trying to ration demand. In short, we have a market that is running out of canola far too quickly and basically to try and slow demand down by driving prices to a level where people use less and that's kind of the exercise the market is trying to go through right now."

 

Driedger was asked if the high prices will lead to an increase in canola acres this year.

 

"Well we will see more acres planted in western Canada this year, although probably not as dramatic an increase as one might think. If you just looked at a canola futures price and looked at how incredibly high prices are, it's just like a rocket ship. There's a couple of things that are maybe going to limit a little bit how aggressive the canola acreage expansion might be."

 

He notes those factors being good agronomic practices and high prices for other crops.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.