Reading Time: 3 minutes Brian Beres wasn’t surprised to find more diverse rotations increase cereal grain yields, improve soil health, and increase microbial biomass. What surprised him was how canola fared under tight rotations. Quite well, as a matter of fact. “It was surprising to see that canola didn’t respond to diversity if you looked at crop response variables […] Read more
Tight rotations may not harm canola yields — but soil health suffers
A long-term study on diversity in rotations produced some surprises, but the benefits were also clear
Wheat models show climate change pressuring yields
A combination of multiple computer models of weather’s impact on wheat warns of a six per cent dent in world wheat production for every degree Celsius in temperature increase. Scientists have been trying for 20 years to estimate effects of temperature increase and climate change on wheat production, which accounts for 20 per cent of […] Read more
Russia’s domestic wheat prices decline due to export curbs
Moscow | Reuters — Russia’s domestic wheat prices have declined since the start of the year as the government has curbed exports with informal limits ahead of the introduction of an official export tax, analysts said on Friday. Russia, expected to be the world’s fourth-largest wheat exporter this year, imposed tougher quality monitoring of grain […] Read more
Oat growers wait for better prices in 2015
CNS Canada –– High freight costs and a reluctance by farmers to sell at current prices has made for a sluggish start to the New Year for oats, according to an industry participant. “Price expectations for oats are higher than what the current market is offering,” said Ryan McKnight, grain merchandising manager at Linear Grain […] Read more
Prairie wheat bids fall as U.S. futures continue to tumble
CNS Canada –– Average cash bids for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat moved lower during the week ended Friday, as U.S. wheat futures continued to tumble. CWRS prices were ranged from $3.75 to $6 per tonne lower in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The best pricing opportunities were still available in Manitoba, where prices were down […] Read more
Egypt says wheat stocks enough to last until early May
Cairo | Reuters — Egypt’s stock of wheat for its subsidized bread program will last until the first week of May, well into the start of the local harvest, after it bought 180,000 tonnes this week, Supplies Minister Khaled Hanafi said Friday. Hanafi said in a statement he expected new silos to come into use […] Read more
Feed barley values seen ‘popping’ in January
CNS Canada –– Western Canadian feed barley prices remained firm to start the year, with bids having enjoyed a gradual rise from the $190 per tonne range in late November to the current level of $210 per tonne. “Bids have firmed up, not surprisingly it’s kind of popping in January,” said Allen Pirness, a trader […] Read more
Declining wheat futures watch corn for further direction
CNS Canada — U.S. wheat futures have posted large losses over the past three weeks, but will be watching corn to provide some further direction in the near future, according to a wheat broker. The U.S. Department of Agriculture releases a number of closely watched reports on Monday (Jan. 12), including winter wheat seedings, quarterly […] Read more
Farmers wanted to test sustainability platforms
Reading Time: < 1 minute Updated Jan.9, 2015 – Alberta’s crops industry has developed its own sustainability project: The Alberta Crops Sustainability Initiative. The plan is to encourage farmers to test some of the sustainability platforms created in Canada and overseas to see how they work on Alberta farms. The initiative was developed by Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley commissions […] Read more
Big crops causing big headaches
Reading Time: < 1 minute Bruce McFadden has seen the future — and it looks congested. While Ottawa’s grain-movement edicts have captured headlines, the director of research for Quorum Corp., the federal grain monitor, has been looking at numbers. Big ones. Stats Canada initially estimated Western Canada’s 2014 harvest at 57 million tonnes, which when combined with carry-over, meant a […] Read more
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