Reading Time: < 1 minute The province’s big four crop commissions are taking over publication of the Blue Book. The popular annual update of information on herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and seed treatments has been published by the provincial Agriculture Ministry for more than two decades. But the province’s wheat, barley, canola and pulse commissions are now taking over the publication […] Read more
Crop commissions now in charge of Blue Book
On-farm research: Making it pay can be a tricky proposition
Plot2Farm project aims to show that a formal research protocol, and agronomic support, delivers results
Reading Time: 4 minutes Farmers are no strangers to on-farm research, but a new program aims to make these field-scale trials easier — and more profitable. “I think it boils down to dollars and cents,” said Gordon Ellis, a farmer from the Olds area who participated in the Plot2Farm program this year. “Everybody farms to make a living and […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Prairie grain market steady, for now
MarketsFarm — The feed grain market in Western Canada remains firm for the time being, but the uncertainty of outside influences makes it difficult to predict where values will go from here. “It is so hard to gauge,” said Susanne Leclerc, owner of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton, adding “I don’t think anybody can predict […] Read more
Canadian pot producer Aphria to buy U.S. craft brewer
SweetWater's '420' beer would come to Canada
Reuters — Canadian cannabis company Aphria Inc. said on Wednesday it plans to buy craft brewer SweetWater Brewing for US$300 million as it looks to expand into the U.S. while becoming the first major pot producer to enter the alcoholic beverages market. The deal gives Leamington, Ont.-based Aphria a U.S. distribution point at a time […] Read more
Savour it: The stars have aligned for crop producers
Demand, prices and shipping are all strong, and that’s not something that happens very often
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s a huge good news story coming out of 2020 for crop producers. Or rather, three of them — demand is up, prices are good, and shipping is going like gangbusters. “Total volumes are up about 23 per cent year over year,” said Brennan Turner, CEO of online grain-marketing company FarmLead. “We moved about 8.34 […] Read more
China rejects Australia’s appeal to remove barley tariff
Sydney | Reuters — China has rejected Australia’s appeal to scrap a tariff on its barley exports, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, all but closing the door on a trade worth about A$1.5 billion (C$1.4 billion) in 2018. The rejection comes after Australia sought a formal review over duties totalling 80.5 per […] Read more
Universities and colleges to take over key provincial research programs
Schools will get transition grants to take on former government programs and researchers
Reading Time: < 1 minute The provincial government is transferring several research programs to universities and colleges. They are: University of Alberta Will receive $3.7 million for taking on four programs and their lead researchers. They are Sheri Strydhorst (cereal agronomy), John Basarab (beef genomics and feed efficiency), Marcos Colazo (reproductive management in beef and dairy cattle), and Valerie Carney […] Read more
Alberta farm groups using online voting
Voting is open until Nov. 6
Reading Time: < 1 minute Producers casting a ballot in Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley elections can use electronic voting. The two farm groups are using a platform called ElectionBuddy, which its developers say is a secure method for member-based organizations to conduct elections. For Alberta Wheat, go to albertawheatvotes.com (opens as a secure ElectionBuddy link) or albertabarleyvotes.com (opens as […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Prices plateauing
MarketsFarm — While prices for feed grains have risen over the last month along with several other commodities, they’ve now declined a little bit, according to Erin Harakal, senior trader with Agfinity in Stony Plain, Alta. “For short-term movement like November-December we’ve seen them come off the most compared to the late-January/early-March time frame,” she […] Read more
Klassen: Feeder market grinds lower
'Is there no grain in this country?'
Compared to last week, prices for western Canadian yearlings weighing over 900 lbs. were down $4-$8 on average; yearlings weighing between 800-900 lbs. were down $2-$4; calves under 800 lbs. were down $8-$12, with the exception of Manitoba, where lighter calves traded $3-$5 below week-ago levels. Feedlot operators are asking, is there no grain in […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
