CNS Canada — Canola remains the cash-flow king of the Prairies, with farmers making near record deliveries off the combine in the Canadian Grain Commission’s latest weekly report. A total of 627,000 tonnes of canola were delivered into the commercial system during the week ended Sept. 10, which would mark the third highest single week […] Read more
Canadian canola deliveries reported near record
Winter cereal growers in holding pattern as clouds loom
CNS Canada — Dry conditions in southern areas of Saskatchewan and Alberta are limiting winter cereal seeding so far, as farmers wait for rain. But that’s not the best strategy, according to Cordon Geisam, the southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta territorial manager for FP Genetics, a Regina-based seed company that deals in fall rye hybrids. […] Read more
Is this the year that winter wheat makes a comeback?
Squeezing winter wheat seeding into a crammed harvest period is usually a big issue
Reading Time: 3 minutes Will there be an upswing in winter wheat acres this year? One of the biggest drawbacks is timing — you have to get your spring-seeded crop off the field before sowing winter wheat. But that won’t be as big an issue in a big chunk of Alberta this year. An estimated 508,000 acres were never […] Read more
Alberta Wheat Commission turns five years old
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Wheat Commission has “come a long way” since its founding five years ago, says the organization’s general manager. In a website posting, Tom Steve pointed to Alberta Wheat’s “robust research portfolio focused on genetics and agronomic performance” that has nearly 40 projects on initiatives such as higher-yielding varieties, fusarium resistance, premium-quality winter wheat, […] Read more
New technology poised to give barley a boost
Researchers aim to breed barley tailored to very specific needs
Reading Time: 5 minutes There’s a bright future for boring old barley. Aside from malt, barley doesn’t generate a lot of excitement for Prairie grain growers — something you can see in acreage figures (which have fallen by more than a third in Alberta and by nearly half in Western Canada during the past decade). But new technology is […] Read more
Now is the time to create next year’s battle plan for fusarium
Scouting this year is the first step in limiting the impact of the cereal disease next year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Although it’s likely too late to apply a fungicide for fusarium graminearum, producers can still use the information they gather about the outbreak to plan for subsequent growing seasons. Fusarium graminearum is considered the most important fusarium head blight (FHB) species due to its aggressiveness and production of deoxynivalenol or DON (a.k.a. vomitoxin), said crop […] Read more
Prairie wheat commissions to collaborate on research funding
The Prairie provinces’ three wheat commissions are set to take a team approach to research funding through a new not-for-profit body. The Alberta Wheat Commission, Sask Wheat and the Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association on Tuesday announced the formation of the Canadian Wheat Research Coalition (CWRC) to “facilitate long-term investments aimed at improving profitability […] Read more
U.S. seeks WTO dispute panel on China’s grain import quotas
Geneva | Reuters — The United States has requested a World Trade Organization panel be set up to investigate Chinese tariff-rate quotas (TRQ) for agricultural products, the WTO said on Monday, setting up a showdown between the two largest economies. The row, which includes tariffs for wheat, rice, and corn, was initiated under the Obama […] Read more
Heat LQ cleared for pre-harvest use in wheat, barley
Wheat, durum and barley growers have a new pre-harvest herbicide option now that BASF has received Codex maximum residue limits (MRLs) for its product Heat LQ. While “there were probably some wheat acres already harvested,” according to Dan Packer, BASF’s cereals crop manager, this agreement will provide an additional pre-harvest option for farmers who still […] Read more
Prairie grain growers have a big stake in NAFTA talks
Trade deal has produced great benefits and can be made even better
Reading Time: 3 minutes The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a boon for Canadian agricultural producers, facilitating cross-border trade and commerce, and fuelling the economic performance and growth of this highly export-driven sector. It has achieved this mainly through the continued reduction of tariffs on agricultural goods, but also through measures addressing non-tariff trade barriers, sanitary and […] Read more
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