Wheat yields can be upped without blowing the bank account and a new study aims to find “the low-hanging fruit,” says Sheri Strydhorst, agronomy research specialist with Alberta Wheat and Barley.

New initiative aims to increase Prairie wheat yields

Filling the gap: Yields are only 40 to 70 per cent of their theoretical max, and new study aims to close that gap

Reading Time: 4 minutes Brian Buckman really only has Mother Nature to thank — or blame — for the gap between the yield he’s getting and what’s possible on his wheat fields. “A perfect example was 2020 — we hit it out of the ballpark with the best yield we ever had, and then in 2021, we saw the […] Read more

CBOT March 2022 oats (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, brown and dark green lines). (Barchart)

Oat prices, acres to rise in 2022, analyst says

MarketsFarm — An independent crop market analyst told Saskatchewan oat growers he is bullish for the crop in 2022. Brennan Turner, founder and former CEO of online crop marketing platforms FarmLead and Combyne Ag, delivered a presentation at the Saskatchewan Oat Development Commission’s (SaskOats) annual general meeting in Saskatoon on Wednesday. Turner, a Foam Lake […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Stronger crop prospects, loonie lower bids

MGEX, K.C. wheat down on week

MarketsFarm — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s projected increases for domestic and worldwide wheat ending stocks, along with a strengthening Canadian dollar, brought pressure onto western Canadian wheat bids for the week ended Thursday. In its monthly world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) report on Wednesday, USDA showed a projected 1.78 million-tonne rise in […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Alberta bids see slight gains

MarketsFarm — Alberta feedlots are only buying feed barley and wheat on a hand-to-mouth basis as demand remains unchanged, according to a local trader. “A lot of the feedlots we work with are buying what they needed and getting covered,” said Agfinity Inc. senior trader Erin Harakal from Stony Plain, Alta. High-delivered bids are $12.93 […] Read more


All varieties of durum wheat in Canada are now low-cadmium lines thanks to breeding efforts in the mid-2000s, and with the recent mapping of the durum genome, wheat breeders will be able to screen the germplasm for the gene that causes cadmium accumulation in the grain much faster.

Canadian researchers crack the case of high-cadmium durum

The recent mapping of durum wheat genome has solved a mystery 30 years in the making — why some varieties are high in cadmium while others are low

Reading Time: 4 minutes Cadmium accumulation in Canadian durum has been a “solved problem” since 2005 — but now genomics have allowed researchers to finally understand why it was a problem in the first place. “It’s a really elegant story about how both breeding and the fundamental science of why cadmium moves in the durum plant actually came together […] Read more

File photo of wheat plants in Afghanistan. (PK Ahmad/iStock/Getty Images)

Taliban increase payment in wheat as economic crisis deepens

Kabul | Reuters — Afghanistan’s Taliban administration said on Tuesday it was expanding its ‘food for work’ program, in which it uses donated wheat to pay thousands of public sector employees instead of cash as a financial crisis intensifies. Wheat, largely donated by India to the previous U.S.-backed Kabul government, is being used to pay […] Read more


(BanksPhotos/Getty Images)

Feed weekly outlook: Feedlots, elevators filled with corn

MarketsFarm — As 2022 begins, feed grain markets in Alberta have been “status quo,” according to a grain buyer. “There’s a lot of grain that has been pre-contracted in terms of corn coming in from the United States,” said Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. “Lots of priority has been towards execution, making […] Read more

Photo: Singh_Lens/iStock/Getty Images

Prairie cash wheat: Bids down despite cold weather, Russian tensions

MarketsFarm – Despite a wide array of factors which would have provided support to prices, Prairie wheat was in the red for the week ended Dec. 30. With areas already experiencing dry conditions, a large cold snap hit both the Prairie provinces in Canada and the Southern Plains in the United States. For the latter, […] Read more



“I think it would be a great step for both commissions, and I’m hopeful that we get to move forward.” – Tara Sawyer.

Alberta cereal commissions ‘halfway there’ on merger vote

If wheat growers vote in favour next month, a plebiscite will be held on sealing the deal

Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta Barley is one step closer to amalgamating with Alberta Wheat following a vote in favour of the proposal at the barley growers’ annual general meeting early this month. “At our AGM last week, the Alberta Barley delegates voted highly in favour of moving forward,” said chair Tara Sawyer. “Now the next step is the […] Read more