Seeding in Alberta complete, forage growers struggle with dry weather

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of June 11

Reading Time: 3 minutes With the exception of a few feed crops, seeding is essentially finished in Alberta. Producers are actively spraying and scouting fields. Areas of concern vary from smoke and frost in the north to flea beetles and cutworms in other pockets of the province. In the week ending June 11 there were rainfall events providing 15 […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain prices strong as dry weather persists

MarketsFarm — Producers are anxious to stock up on feed grains as weather across the Prairies has remained dry. “We’ve been seeing buyers being quite aggressive [when] bidding on all feed grains,” explained Nelson Neumann of Agfinity in Lethbridge. “Nobody wants to be caught without anything over the summer.” With little precipitation in the forecast, […] Read more


(ShaunL/iStock/Getty Images)

Oats market solid, watching weather

MarketsFarm — Tight old-crop supplies are keeping oats prices well supported in Western Canada, although buyers are covered for the time being and waiting for a clearer picture on new-crop production. “It’s tough to find old-crop demand currently, as many larger-scale end-users are covered,” said Ryan McKnight of Linear Grain at Carman, Man. Most buyers […] Read more

Only a small percentage of producers are able to attend research and advanced agronomy demos like this one. So Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley have hired an extension agronomist to deliver research results back to farms in the province.

Extension agronomist aims to bridge gap between research and producers

The two crop commissions want their investment in research to be put to use on Alberta farms

Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta’s wheat and barley commissions are determined to get their research into the hands of producers. They’ve hired a research extension agronomist to make sure that happens. “I don’t know if there’s anyone who has a similar role to me at this point,” said Jeremy Boychyn, who started his new job in October. The two […] Read more


Parrish and Heimbecker’s current elevator at Dutton Siding, west of Gilbert Plains, Man. (ParrishAndHeimbecker.com)

P+H plans new elevator east of Winnipeg

Grain company Parrish and Heimbecker is set to put up one of the easternmost primary grain elevators in Western Canada, not far from one of its existing sites. The privately held Winnipeg company announced Friday it will start construction this month on a 25,000-tonne capacity grain elevator on Canadian National Railway track at Dugald, Man., […] Read more

Dry weather stalls crop growth, pastures well below five-year average

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of June 4

Reading Time: 3 minutes The recent warm weather helped with both seeding and crop emergence. In terms of seeding progress, producers are five points ahead of the five year average of 94 and are currently sitting at over 99 per cent complete. Across the province emergence average is now at 72 which is also higher than the five year […] Read more


This photo was taken on May 27 just after 9 — but in the evening, not the morning — and nearly 90 minutes before sunset. Once harvested, the crops from these test plots at the Mackenzie Applied Research Association farm at Fort Vermilion will have their protein, starch, and oil content analyzed and compared to crops grown in southern Alberta. At 58 degrees of latitude, the sun rises 40 minutes earlier and sets an hour later at this time of year in Fort Vermilion compared to Lethbridge.

Do crops really grow better in the north?

Study aims to show processors and investors that northern vigour produces superior crops

Reading Time: 3 minutes Some call it northern vigour. Others call it the northern advantage. And now, one group of Alberta researchers are setting out to prove what some farmers have been saying all along — that crops really do grow better up north. “In this part of Alberta, we have 19 hours of daily sunlight in the summer, […] Read more

It’s shaping up to be another very tough year for pastures and hay production.

Double whammy: Second dry year hits forages hard

With pastures suffering and hay supplies tight and expensive, fallback strategies are needed

Reading Time: 3 minutes It’s already a tough situation for forages, and fears are mounting that it will get worse. “We went into the winter in very dry conditions. We have had some rains as of late, but with perennial forage crops, their production is pre-set from the year before,” said Ed Shaw, president and chief executive officer of […] Read more


Major crops in Alberta nearly all seeded, pastures see delayed growth

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of May 28

Reading Time: 4 minutes Relatively good weather over the past week has resulted in good seeding progress. As of May 28, provincially about 91 per cent of major crops have been seeded, compared to 72 per cent a week ago and the 5-year average (2014-2018) of 79 per cent. Regionally, seeding progress was most advanced at 95 per cent […] Read more

Dry weather sees good seeding progress

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of May 21, 2019

Reading Time: 4 minutes Since April 1, the western parts of the province received at least 40 mm of accumulated precipitation, while areas in the northern parts of the Peace Region, eastern parts of the North West, most parts of the Central, and eastern parts of the Southern Region have seen less than 20 mm of rain. Frost was […] Read more