Reading Time: < 1 minute The long anticipated merger of the province’s wheat and barley commissions is now one step away from being a done deal. Delegates at Alberta Wheat’s recent annual general meeting supported a resolution to have a farmer plebiscite on amalgamating with Alberta Barley, whose members took the same step in December. The vote allows the two […] Read more
End of the wheat and barley merger road in sight
Up next is a plebiscite on merging the boards of the two farm groups, which already share staff and offices
Watch out for grasshoppers and wheat stem sawfly this year
Some pests do just fine when it’s hot and dry while others suffer, and all try to adapt
Reading Time: 3 minutes Last summer’s drought and brutal heat was a game changer for insect pests across the Prairies. Some got knocked back, others managed just fine and many acted in new ways as they tried to adapt. “Every pest species we deal with could be responding to these hot and dry conditions differently,” said Meghan Vankosky, a […] Read more
Prairie cash wheat: Bids rally on tightening supplies, drought
U.S. March wheat futures gain on week
MarketsFarm — New supply data from both sides of the Canada/U.S. border, as well as ongoing drought in wheat growing regions, have supported western Canadian wheat bids for the week ended Thursday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its monthly supply/demand estimates on Wednesday and cut its projected global wheat supply estimate for the 2021-22 […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Corn seeing higher prices, transportation delays
MarketsFarm — Corn has become the primary feed grain in Alberta feedlots due to its lower price compared to barley and wheat. However, rising corn prices in the U.S. and transportation issues are causing some buyers to give pause. “Basic levels are a little bit stronger. (Add in) the exchange rate, there are a little […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Alberta blockade affects feed grain deliveries
MarketsFarm — A truck blockade at a Canada-U.S. border crossing at Coutts, Alta. has caused some headaches for grain buyers in southern parts of the province. Since Saturday, commercial trucks and other vehicles have blocked Highway 4, a 103-km stretch which runs from the border to Lethbridge, to protest COVID-19 health measures. On the U.S. […] Read more
These kind of variants we want
Reading Time: < 1 minute A new research project, partly funded by Alberta Wheat and its provincial cousins, aims to use naturally occurring genetic variations to boost both uptake and use of applied phosphorus and nitrogen. “Typical crop plants only take up around 50 per cent of the phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizer applied by farmers,” said researcher Leon Kochian of […] Read more
Prairie cash wheat: Bids mixed amid conflicting influences
MarketsFarm — Wheat bids across Western Canada were mixed during the week ended Thursday, as losses in U.S. futures were countered by the supportive influence of a weaker Canadian dollar. Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS, 13.5 per cent protein) wheat prices were down by $7.60-$11.60 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Markets facing uncertainty
MarketsFarm — Feed grain markets in Western Canada are facing some uncertainty amid tight domestic supplies and reports of transportation issues bringing up corn from the United States. “It’s very strange,” said Susanne Leclerc of MarketMaster Ltd. in Alberta. “You see stories like that (reporting on feedlots running low on grain), then you talk to […] Read more
Malt barley challengers gaining ground
Reading Time: < 1 minute CDC Copeland is still the most popular malting barley variety in Western Canada but its six-year reign may be coming to an end as AAC Synergy continues to grab acres. Copeland accounted for nearly 35 per cent of western Canadian acres last year — far below its nearly 50 per cent share in 2017 — […] Read more
Feed weekly outlook: Status quo for now, but change coming
MarketsFarm — Feed grains in Western Canada have been holding close to the status quo for the last little while, but that’s likely to change, according to Jim Beusekom of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. He pointed to increases in corn and wheat this week in U.S. futures markets, in which corn has gained about […] Read more