A sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to drought may force bakers to change how they work with flour.  Photo: DanielBendjy/E+/Getty Images

Millers, bakers fret as drought withers North America’s spring wheat

Reuters – Millers and bakers are draining wheat reserves and paying more for spring wheat used in baking, as drought shrivels crops across the Canadian Prairies and northern U.S. Plains that produce more than half of the world’s supply. U.S. and Canadian farmers are bracing for a sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to the […] Read more

Cereal merger survey now online

Cereal merger survey now online

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley have launched their online survey to consult members on amalgamating to form a single commission. Since 2018, the organizations have shared a management team but have two boards and separate financial structures. Members of both farm groups passed resolutions at their 2019 annual general meetings calling for a comprehensive review […] Read more





(Alkestida/iStock/Getty Images)

Durum markets reckon with weather

'There was no wiggle room for a crop problem'

MarketsFarm — The higher temperatures soared and the longer between rains in Western Canada, the lower the yield projections for most crops — and drought-tolerant durum wheat is no exception. With bids already elevated due to a downturn in potential new-crop supply, the price of durum could rise even higher. “There’s not a lot of […] Read more



Prairie barley growers can learn a few lessons on grain drying from Ireland, where the crop generally comes off at 15 to 21.5 per cent moisture, said Drew Sharp, a manager with Boortmart who outlined Irish drying methods in a webinar earlier this year.

Damp Ireland offers some grain drying tips for the dry Prairies

Farmers here can learn a few lessons about drying malt barley from the Emerald Isle

Reading Time: 3 minutes What can malt barley producers on the Prairies learn about grain drying and storage from a country like Ireland, where the climate almost couldn’t be more different? Quite a bit, says an expert familiar with both. The weather is very different but Ireland and the Prairies share some similar challenges, notably dealing with high-moisture malt […] Read more

CBOT December 2021 oats (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

Oat crop across Western Canada ‘not stellar’

MarketsFarm — As with most other crops on the Prairies, conditions are “not stellar” for oats, according to Shawna Mathieson, executive director for the Prairie Oat Growers Association. POGA directors from across the region who participated in a recent board meeting had a rather grim outlook on the coming harvest, she said. “Not a single […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids up with strong gains in U.S. markets

MarketsFarm — Bids spiked for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS), Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR), and durum (CWAD) wheats in Western Canada for the week ended Thursday. Steep increases in U.S. wheat futures supported values, as did a lower Canadian dollar which lost more than a half cent. Average CWRS (13.5 per cent protein) wheat […] Read more

(Doug Wilson photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Feed weekly outlook: Heat reducing potential yields, raising prices

MarketsFarm — The hot and dry summer that has enveloped all of Western Canada is already bringing down projected yields for feed grains, creating an inverse effect on prices. “We’re losing the crop here right now with the heat and lack of moisture across the Prairies and the northern Plains of the United States,” said […] Read more