CBOT March 2023 oats with 20- and 50-day moving averages. (Barchart)

Feed weekly outlook: Wheat, barley eschewed for other grains

Oats, corn finding demand as feed

MarketsFarm — Feed wheat and barley prices in Alberta’s feedlot alley are coming down, largely due to the increasing presence of corn imported from the U.S. The high-delivered bid for Alberta feed barley on Wednesday was $9.80 per bushel, 11 cents lower than the previous week and 22 cents lower than one month earlier, according […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids drop with U.S. futures

Canadian dollar also down on week

MarketsFarm — Spring wheat bids in Western Canada moved lower during the week ended Thursday, as U.S. wheat futures posted losses — although softness in the Canadian dollar did provide some underlying support. Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS, 13.5 per cent protein) wheat prices were down by $3.50-$6.40 per tonne across the Prairies, according […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Looming corn imports to keep lid on Prairie barley

MarketsFarm — Large shipments of corn from the U.S., slated for delivery to Alberta’s feedlot alley, should keep domestic barley prices under pressure going forward, according to an analyst. “The barley price here will gradually decline,” said Errol Anderson of Pro Market Communications in Calgary, adding that up to 30 unit trains of U.S. corn […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain prices expected to hold firm

'The farmer doesn't seem super interested in selling'

MarketsFarm — Feed prices on the Prairies are likely to remain steady through to the new year, according to Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. “I think the markets for now are to be flat,” he said, noting there has been talk in the market of 25 trains of U.S. corn that have […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids steady following Ukraine volatility

U.S. wheat futures up on week

MarketsFarm — A roller-coaster type of week for grain markets, fuelled by the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, ended with slightly higher bids for western Canadian wheat for the week ended Thursday. As optimism grew over the renewal of Russia’s agreement to allow Ukrainian grain shipments on the Black Sea, wheat futures on the […] Read more

“It’s an exciting time moving forward.” – Tara Sawyer.

Cereal producers back merger but it won’t happen overnight, say officials

Amalgamating Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley is complicated but should be done by summer

Reading Time: 3 minutes A merged wheat and barley commission will be up and running by August after Alberta growers overwhelmingly voted to amalgamate the two groups. “August 1 would be the ideal launch date (as) July 31 is the end of our fiscal year,” said Tom Steve, general manager for both groups, which merged their leadership and administrative […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: More corn, oats in feed rations

'Very weird situation to be seeing again'

MarketsFarm — As prices for feed barley and wheat increase, more feedlots are turning to corn, according to Susanne Leclerc of Market Master Ltd. at Edmonton. “A lot of places are switching to corn. The desirability of feed barley has been coming down,” she said. “So it will be interesting to see which way the […] Read more

Breeders are poised to make gains in developing drought tolerant wheat, but it’s complicated and there’s no magic bullet, says Harpinder Randhawa, a breeder at Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge research centre.

The quest for drought-tolerant wheat heats up

A hotter, drier future looms but breeding for drought tolerance is a complicated business

Reading Time: 5 minutes The push to breed drought-resistant wheat has taken on new urgency as dry times become more common and more severe. “Drought is big on everybody’s minds these days,” said Harpinder Randhawa, a wheat breeder with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge research centre. “Especially in Western Canada, we rely heavily on the natural water availability of […] Read more


File photo of barley being loaded off the combine. (Collab Media/iStock/Getty Images)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain supplies good, freight costs higher

'They don't have as many drivers as normal'

MarketsFarm — There are still sufficient supplies of feed barley and wheat to be had on the Canadian Prairies — but there are issues with getting that feed from point to point, according to Erin Harakal, senior trader at Agfinity at Stony Plain, Alta. “I do think there are enough supplies from what we have […] Read more

A farmer in China piles wheat.  Photo: Reuters/File

China top destination for Canadian wheat through two months

MarketsFarm – China was the main destination for Canadian wheat through the first two months of the 2022/23 (Aug/Jul) marketing year, according to the latest trade data from Statistics Canada. Canada exported 534,000 tonnes of wheat to China in August and September, accounting for about 20 per cent of Canada’s total wheat exports-to-date. Japan, Bangladesh […] Read more