“It’s an exciting time moving forward.” – Tara Sawyer.

Cereal producers back merger but it won’t happen overnight, say officials

Amalgamating Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley is complicated but should be done by summer

Reading Time: 3 minutes A merged wheat and barley commission will be up and running by August after Alberta growers overwhelmingly voted to amalgamate the two groups. “August 1 would be the ideal launch date (as) July 31 is the end of our fiscal year,” said Tom Steve, general manager for both groups, which merged their leadership and administrative […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: More corn, oats in feed rations

'Very weird situation to be seeing again'

MarketsFarm — As prices for feed barley and wheat increase, more feedlots are turning to corn, according to Susanne Leclerc of Market Master Ltd. at Edmonton. “A lot of places are switching to corn. The desirability of feed barley has been coming down,” she said. “So it will be interesting to see which way the […] Read more


There won’t be any feed shortages this winter at Short Grass Ranches, which has both a feedlot and cattle herd. But Craig Lehr says feed wasn’t cheap and dry conditions mean next year is already a worry.

Feed situation is much improved this year but far from perfect

The supply levels are good but feed isn’t cheap, and most pastures need some serious moisture

Reading Time: 4 minutes Craig Lehr has been able to source the forage and feed he needs this year for Short Grass Ranches, a backgrounding feedlot he co-owns near Medicine Hat. Still, finding feed and forage for the 7,000-head feedlot, plus its 1,100-head cattle herd, was not an easy task. “The ground situation is still pretty bleak,” said Lehr, […] Read more

File photo of barley being loaded off the combine. (Collab Media/iStock/Getty Images)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain supplies good, freight costs higher

'They don't have as many drivers as normal'

MarketsFarm — There are still sufficient supplies of feed barley and wheat to be had on the Canadian Prairies — but there are issues with getting that feed from point to point, according to Erin Harakal, senior trader at Agfinity at Stony Plain, Alta. “I do think there are enough supplies from what we have […] Read more


Applying research results on the farm can be challenging, especially when something has been working fairly well, says agronomy research extension specialist Jeremy Boychyn.

On-farm research sprouts fresh ideas for producers

Crop commissions are helping farmers get solid answers to questions they have on their farms

Reading Time: 3 minutes Do on-farm trials make a difference when applying research to real life? Several of the province’s crop commissions think so. Even when research results seem clear cut, things can get complicated when farmers try to apply them on the farm, says Jeremy Boychyn, agronomy research extension specialist with Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley. Boychyn points […] Read more

The ultimate goal of the Living Lab project is to test recommended best management practices on farms, find out what works well, and encourage other producers to take up the winning practices.

Research with a twist: Farmers in the driver’s seat in Living Lab

Participating producers will be full partners in new program run by ABP

Reading Time: 4 minutes A new climate change initiative in Alberta will put producers in the driver’s seat so they can test-drive best management practices and see what works. The concept is called Living Labs, a three-year-old program that is already showing results in other provinces and is being implemented nationally. The version being rolled out here is called […] Read more


A farmer in China piles wheat.  Photo: Reuters/File

China top destination for Canadian wheat through two months

MarketsFarm – China was the main destination for Canadian wheat through the first two months of the 2022/23 (Aug/Jul) marketing year, according to the latest trade data from Statistics Canada. Canada exported 534,000 tonnes of wheat to China in August and September, accounting for about 20 per cent of Canada’s total wheat exports-to-date. Japan, Bangladesh […] Read more

Photo: File

Feed weekly outlook: Tight logistics underpinning Prairie feed market

MarketsFarm – Canada’s barley crop may have improved considerably in 2022 compared to 2021’s drought-stricken crop, but the logistics of getting that grain to Alberta’s feedlot alley are keeping prices well supported. Canada grew 9.4 million tonnes of barley during the 2022 growing season, which was up by 35 per cent from the previous year. […] Read more


A combine in the Interlake runs against the setting sun on Nov. 1, 2022, in an effort to wrap up harvest.  Photo: Greg Berg

Manitoba nets average crops in 2022 after wet spring

MarketsFarm – Wet spring conditions delayed seeding operations across much of Manitoba to start the 2022 growing season, but warm summer conditions allowed for good development with yields for most crops showing a marked improvement over the drought-stricken 2021 harvest, according to the final crop report of the season from Manitoba Agriculture. On a crop-by-crop […] Read more

Strong commodity prices to continue: FCC

Strong commodity prices to continue: FCC

Reading Time: < 1 minute Farm Credit Canada is forecasting “another year of excellent crop prices,” albeit with big declines for some crops. The ag lender predicts canola will average $870 a tonne this crop year, which is $100 below the 2021-22 average but well above the five-year average of $490. FCC forecasts spring wheat prices to average $430 a tonne […] Read more