Reading Time: 3 minutes What can malt barley producers on the Prairies learn about grain drying and storage from a country like Ireland, where the climate almost couldn’t be more different? Quite a bit, says an expert familiar with both. The weather is very different but Ireland and the Prairies share some similar challenges, notably dealing with high-moisture malt […] Read more
Damp Ireland offers some grain drying tips for the dry Prairies
Farmers here can learn a few lessons about drying malt barley from the Emerald Isle
Exemptions, extensions to be granted for rail crossing upgrades
New amendments would exclude low-risk field-to-field crossings
Some farmer-owned field-to-field grade crossings over Canadian rail lines are now expected to be exempted altogether from looming federal requirements for safety upgrades. Proposed amendments to the Grade Crossings Regulations, announced June 18 by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, this week cleared their 30-day public comment period. The amendments are expected to tweak rules which were […] Read more
Telus, Rabobank ag arms buy into farm data aggregator
Companies join in on deal for Minneapolis-based Conservis
The agriculture arms of one of Canada’s major telecoms providers and a major Dutch bank and financial services firm are taking a stake in a tech firm in the business of gathering on-farm data into a single window. Telus Agriculture and Rabo AgriFinance, which is headquartered in St. Louis and serves U.S. farm customers, announced […] Read more
Better grain bin sensors could put you in the combine a week earlier
The key to an earlier start is being able to successfully dry down higher-moisture grain, says expert
Reading Time: 4 minutes To some, new research on wireless sensors and automated fans for grain bins may seem like just another technical study. But there’s big stakes in play — an opportunity to move up harvest by a week or even two, says Chandra Singh. “When I joined Lethbridge College in 2019 there was a very early snow […] Read more
Rail upgrades planned for P+H elevator
Eastern Saskatchewan elevator's rail spot expanding
Winnipeg grain firm Parrish and Heimbecker plans to boost throughput at one of its eastern Saskatchewan elevators with upgrades to its rail car loading systems. Privately-held P+H said Thursday it plans to expand to a 100-car spot, up from 50, at its elevator at Quill Lake, Sask., about 60 km east of Humboldt. Work on […] Read more
Lytton bridge re-opened but grain movement ‘hit and miss’
B.C. wildfires continue to disrupt Prairie grain movement
Canadian National Railway’s fire-damaged bridge at Lytton, B.C. reopened for traffic Tuesday — but all train movement, including for grain, through British Columbia’s wildfire-ravaged southern Interior, is “hit and miss” and will remain so until the fire risk lessens. “Both (CN and Canadian Pacific Railway) are having troubles because there are so many fires in […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Container crisis affecting markets, shipments
MarketsFarm — As hot and dry weather, especially in Western Canada, have wrought havoc on Canadian pulse crops and raised prices, it’s also becoming more difficult to export pulses overseas. Shipping containers, in which 30 per cent of Canada’s peas and more than 50 per cent of Canada’s lentils are transported, are currently in a […] Read more
Richardson to buy major U.S. durum processor
Italgrani's milling, grain handling assets to go to Winnipeg firm
Agrifood firm Richardson International is set to expand and further diversify its grain processing space with a deal for what’s billed as North America’s single largest durum flour and semolina miller. The Winnipeg company said Thursday it will buy 100 per cent of the shares in Italgrani USA Inc., whose assets include a mill, elevator […] Read more
Parliament rises as farm succession bill passes
Manitoba MP's private member's bill clears Senate
With the possibility of a fall election looming, MPs rose from the House of Commons on Wednesday, marking the end to a parliamentary session featuring a handful of laws impacting agriculture. Brandon-Souris MP Larry Maguire saw his private member’s bill, aimed at lowering taxes on the sales of farms and other small businesses, pass in […] Read more
Test weight calculators available for grain
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Grain Commission is offering a new online tool “to help producers quickly and accurately determine the volume and test weight of their grain.” The test weight calculators make it easier to calculate the test weight in three commonly used units of measurement: kilograms per hectolitre (kg/ hl), pounds per Avery bushel (lbs./bu.-A), and […] Read more