Reading Time: 3 minutes It wasn’t perfect of course, but the difference between this year’s harvest and last year’s hellish one was stark. As of Oct. 6, about 90.2 per cent of crops in the province were off the field — nearly double the dismal 48.4 per cent figure from the province’s harvest report on Oct. 8, 2019. The […] Read more

It was about time — harvest a totally different story this year
Yields and quality were all over the map, but most producers were able to get it done much earlier this year

Research funding provides new barley varieties
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Barley Research Coalition is investing $2.7 million over five years in the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre to develop barley varieties with improved agronomics, disease resistance and end-use quality. The research coalition is a collaboration between Alberta Barley and its Prairie sister organizations. The last round of funding by the coalition led […] Read more

Feed weekly outlook: Feedlots booking for winter underpin bids
MarketsFarm — Feed grain prices have been strong following Western Canada’s harvest, as feedlots ensure they’re covered heading into the winter. “Last week there was some buying in the deferred months, from January onward,” Allen Pirness of Market Place Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. said. Pirness said the strong prices were unexpected, noting that when prices […] Read more

Agency mixed up about tank-mix labelling, say grain groups
Proposed change would prohibit mixes if a product label contains no guidance on tank mixing
Reading Time: 3 minutes A proposed change to tank-mix labelling requirements makes little sense and would unnecessarily hurt farmers, say grain groups. “Our biggest concern with this regulatory proposal is that it would take immediate effect… and could make some current tank mixes that are being used illegal, for all intents and purposes,” said Shannon Sereda, government relations and […] Read more

Klassen: Weather, COVID, feed grains pressure feeder market
Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were $2-$4 lower on average; calves traded $2 to as much as $6 below week-ago levels. Southern Alberta received its first snowfall of the season last week, which hindered demand for fresh replacements. Feedlots always incorporate a risk discount when the first snowfall of the year materializes, […] Read more

Grain exports on a tear so far this crop year
Reading Time: < 1 minute Grain and oilseed exports are running well ahead of year-ago levels nine weeks into the crop year, according to Canadian Grain Commission data. Toal bulk exports of the major grains and oilseeds totalled 8.34 million tonnes as of Oct. 4, versus 6.78 million tonnes exported during the same period in 2019. Canola exports reached 1.88 […] Read more

We’ll meet again — but not likely in person for a while
This year’s round of meetings will be mostly virtual but commissions hope producers stay involved
Reading Time: 3 minutes The fall meeting season hasn’t fallen by the wayside, but it will be very different. “We haven’t done any in-person events since the pandemic started, and we will not be doing any in-person events until at least February or March 2021,” said Rick Taillieu, manager of grower relations and extension for Alberta Canola. “Along the […] Read more

The Canada-EU trade deal: High hopes replaced by frustration
Instead of billions in extra trade, agreement bogged down in fruitless talks on ‘technical’ trade barriers
Reading Time: 6 minutes CETA is short for the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, but for many it’s become a term for frustration and disappointment. “When CETA was signed and ratified three years ago, there were lots of promises,” said Doug Sawyer, a cow-calf producer from Pine Lake and co-chair of the foreign trade committee for the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. […] Read more

Grain, oilseed exports running ahead of average
MarketsFarm — Canadian grain and oilseed exports have left the country at a rapid pace during the first 10 weeks of the 2020-21 crop year, with canola, wheat,and barley movement-to-date all up substantially on the year. Total exports of Canada’s major grains and oilseeds as of Sunday came in at 9.57 million tonnes, according to […] Read more

Manitoba cattle sector gets COVID-19 AgriRecovery
Program to help offset costs from 'extraordinary feed period'
Manitoba cattle producers whose usual markets for finished cattle were temporarily out of reach this spring and summer may now be able to offset some of the resulting extra feed bills. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and her Manitoba counterpart, Blaine Pedersen, on Thursday announced the 2020 Canada-Manitoba Finished Cattle Feed Assistance Program, an AgriRecovery […] Read more