Reading Time: 5 minutes Since the last report crops in some central regions are beginning to degrade due to excessive rainfall. The effect varies substantially depending on location, topography and soil type. Hay operations have been extremely difficult in the same areas and the chance of a second cut is greatly diminished due to the late first cut. Producers […] Read more
Excessive moisture causing crops to degrade in central Alberta
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of July 29

Rains bring some relief to hay markets, but not much
Rain and shortages make for an uneven hay market
Reading Time: 3 minutes Recent rains may result in hay prices softening a bit — but not by much, say experts “We have got rains and some of the pastures are rebounding,” said Ed Shaw, a hay exporter from Olds. “The yields are going to be lower than normal because it was a slow season and it got started […] Read more
Crop development varies across Alberta
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of July 16
Reading Time: 5 minutes Cooler than normal temperatures have prevailed in the past month across most of Alberta resulting in a slight setback of approximately a week for many fields. Combined with the dry conditions throughout the South, East and Peace regions and higher than normal precipitation along the foothills and North West region, the crop conditions and staging […] Read more

Reporter plays foodie and samples oat-based cheeses
“The more I work with Alberta crops, the more I get excited about them,” says local culinary arts instructor
Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s not every day that I go into a laboratory to try food. But today, I walk into a room with steel containers and refrigerators, where researchers are wearing lab coats. I’m about to taste some new oat ‘cheese,’ and I’m excited. Before I get to taste the oat cheese, research chef, Maynard Kolskog has […] Read more
Crop conditions creep near five-year average, soil moisture levels still a concern
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of June 25
Reading Time: 4 minutes Following a dry spring, most parts of the province have received at least 80 mm of precipitation over June and experienced a wetter weather pattern, with some fields receiving significantly more rain through thunderstorm activities. However, southern parts of Alberta remained dry and in need of rain. Moisture stress in the northern half of the […] Read more

Cigi, Cereals Canada agree to pursue amalgamation
The boards of the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi) and Cereals Canada have agreed to pursue amalgamation by March 31, 2020. That’s if a proposal, yet to be developed, is approved by the two bodies’ member organizations, leaders Dean Dias and Cam Dahl, said Friday in separate interviews. “During the past week, both boards have […] Read more

StatsCan: Less canola and durum, more barley and oats
MarketsFarm — Canadian farmers seeded fewer canola and durum acres than they originally intended, but more barley and oats, according to updated acreage estimates from Statistics Canada that largely came within expectations. StatsCan pegged planted Canadian canola area for 2019-20 (August to July) at 20.952 million acres, down by about 300,000 from the March survey […] Read more

Less canola, more barley area expected in next StatsCan report
MarketsFarm — Canadian farmers will likely grow less canola and more barley in 2019, though the jury is out on exact acreage numbers ahead of Statistics Canada’s seeded area estimates due out Wednesday. Barley prices have hit “historic highs” thanks to inclement corn-growing weather in the United States, which has buoyed most feed grain prices. […] Read more

Protein supercluster aims to transform food processing in Western Canada
The region can be a world powerhouse in value-added processing, says head of Protein Industries Canada
Reading Time: 3 minutes Protein Industries Canada has a plan to kickstart the growth of the plant-based protein sector in Western Canada over the next four years, says its CEO. “From a processing perspective, this is a growing industry in Canada — we’ve got 7,000 food processors,” Bill Greuel told attendees at the recent Bridge2Food Plant-Based Food Summit. But […] Read more
Low moisture levels slow crop growth across Alberta
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of June 18
Reading Time: 5 minutes Since the beginning of June, some parts of Alberta (especially in the western and central areas) experienced a more normal weather pattern, receiving up to 100 mm of rain. However, conditions in the Southern Region, eastern parts of the Central and North East Regions, northern parts of the North West Region and northern half of […] Read more