Rain on the plains makes for good crop gains

Alberta crop conditions as of June 19, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Over the past week, there were some welcome rain showers in the western parts of the province, bringing sufficient moisture to support the active growth of both annual and perennial crops. While many areas in the west of the Southern and Central Regions received at least 30 mm of rain, rainfall for the west parts […] Read more

(Lentils.ca)

Pulse weekly outlook: Lentil crop prospects look good, market down

CNS Canada — The western Canadian lentil crop is looking good, which has buyers in no rush to lock in contracts. “The crop is germinating well and so (buyers are) not really anxious or worried about having product available in this coming crop year,” said Marlene Boersch, of Mercantile Consulting Venture. Thursday’s crop report from […] Read more


Primo’s “Rustic Beef Barley” soup. (PrimoHeartySoups.ca)

Soup maker Baxters sells Canadian arm

The Canadian business of Scottish soup and condiment maker Baxters Food Group is back in Canadian hands, including private, public and labour-sponsored Quebec investors. Provincial venture capital firm Investissement Quebec and labour-sponsored Fonds de solidarite FTQ and Fondaction announced Tuesday they would each put up $8 million, plus an unspecified amount from investors led by […] Read more

Mixed weather finds Alberta crops, pasture, hay conditions improve

Alberta crop conditions as of June 12, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes Over the past week, most areas of the province received timely rains, with the highest rainfall accumulations since the beginning of June seen in the North East Region, and the lowest in the western parts of the Southern and Central Regions. This weather system was also responsible for hail and strong winds, in different parts […] Read more


Seeding 99 per cent complete, soil moisture conditions improve

Alberta crop conditions as of June 5, 2018

Reading Time: < 1 minute Last week just about all agriculture lands across the province received decent rain, with most areas receiving over 10mm. Three major areas received over 20 mm including western Peace, the land base along the Saskatchewan border stretching from Cold Lake down to the U.S. border and a large area west of highway 2 between Edson […] Read more

Dry weather offers a break for late seeding efforts

Alberta crop conditions as of May 29, 2018

Reading Time: < 1 minute Dry weather conditions helped producers catch up with late seeding and contributed to quick germination and emergence. Recent hot and windy weather lead to the increased drying of both surface soil moisture and sub-surface soil moisture. The forecasted cooler temperatures and scattered showers throughout the province are anticipated to aid overall crop growing conditions. Provincially, […] Read more


Seeding makes good progress, surface soil moisture levels declining

Alberta crop conditions as of May 22, 2018

Reading Time: < 1 minute Warm and dry weather over the past week provided favourable conditions for seeding operations in most of the province. Provincially, seeding progress has increased 30 per cent from a week ago, to 67 per cent complete, compared to the 5-year average (2013-2017) of 83 per cent. Regionally, seeding progress is most advanced in the Southern […] Read more



Thirty-eight per cent of crops seeded, soil moisture varies

Alberta crop conditions as of May 15, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes In the first half of May, temperatures have been the warmest since 1961 in most parts of the province and most areas received less than 10 mm of moisture. This has provided the ideal weather for quick ground thaw and allowed for seeding operations to be in full swing across the province. Provincially, as of […] Read more

Lentil plants in bloom. (BasieB/iStock/Getty Images)

Pulse weekly outlook: Good start despite dry conditions

CNS Canada — Dry soil conditions persist across many areas of Western Canada but the outlook for pulse crops seems fairly promising in one specialist’s view. “For the pulses, seeding has been going fairly well,” said Daphne Cruise, crops extension specialist with Saskatchewan’s provincial Agriculture Knowledge Centre in Moose Jaw. “A lot of the pulses […] Read more