File photo of grain bins in Saskatchewan. (Chinaface/iStock/Getty Images)

Most Canadian grain stocks tighter than a year ago

For many of Canada’s major crops, their holdings came in lower than a year ago, as Statistics Canada released its stocks of principal field crops as of March 31 report. There were declines in all wheat, durum, oats, corn, lentils and peas, but there were increases for barley and canola while soybeans were relatively steady.



The Field Crop Development Centre/Western Crop Innovation site.

Former crop centre reboots as Western Crop Innovation

New organization aims to expand focus to new crops, ag innovation

Reading Time: 4 minutes [UPDATED: May 1, 2024] The Field Crop Development Centre at Lacombe, Alta., has a new name and identity that reflects a broadening focus. Now called Western Crop Innovation as of April 1, it will build on a long history of barley breeding and agronomy research and expand to include a wider array of crop research. […] Read more


Ehsan Feizohalli is one of the researchers who helped test the use of cold plasma to decontaminate grains.

Plasma shows promise in grain decontamination

The fourth state of matter (in its cold form) could be coming to a malt house or feedlot near you

Reading Time: 3 minutes [UPDATED: June 4, 2024] Alberta researchers are harnessing a high-tech concept to decontaminate grain. The researchers are using cold plasma, which in this case was created by electrical discharge at atmospheric pressure. One of the most common uses is in florescent lighting, which creates light with little heat. Cold plasma is the fourth state of matter, […] Read more






Jeremy Boychyn says even a dry year can reveal meaningful results in on-farm trials.

Plot2Farm wraps up another (dry) year

Although short on big news, it offered insight on how crop products work in dry conditions, says agronomist

Reading Time: 5 minutes When it comes to on-farm testing, part of the equation is seeing how products function in the real world. So, while dry conditions are not ideal circumstances, the agronomist lead of Alberta Grains’ Plot2Farm program says testing enhanced efficiency fertilizers, PGRs and nitrogen rates has value. “I’d say overall (2023) was a relatively successful year,” […] Read more