Alberta Archives | Alberta Farmer Express

Klassen: Feeder market experiences mixed tone

Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices traded $3-$5 on either side of unchanged. Auction market volumes are growing in Saskatchewan and Manitoba; however, central Alberta prices held a definite premium of $8-$10 over the eastern Prairie regions. Ontario orders are starting to surface in Manitoba but prices were out of reach with Alberta […] Read more

Canola, Crops

Clubroot able to beat resistant canola reaches Manitoba

By GFM Staff September 10, 2019

A strain of clubroot able to club the roots of some resistant canola varieties has made its way east to Manitoba. Manitoba’s agriculture department reported Friday that clubroot pathotype 3A — a strain that can “overcome some first-generation sources of genetic resistance” in commercial canola — has been positively identified in the south-central rural municipality […] Read more

Jordan Vos, shown here speaking in 2018, has had many discussions with friends and coworkers who have stopped eating beef because they believe cattle are bad for the environment. Her approach is to stick to the facts.

Heartland

Debunking the myths about beef with the facts and truth

By Jordan Vos September 4, 2019

Jordan Vos, 21, of Burdett was the senior winner in the Alberta Young Speakers for Agriculture competition at the Calgary Stampede. She chose the topic: ‘Bust a myth in Canadian agriculture.’ Take a deep breath, smell the juicy burger with all the fixin’s… featuring an all-Canadian beef burger! Mmmm Mmmm! One of the biggest myths […] Read more

Want more environmentally friendly cows? One big way is to do everything you can to ensure they have calves.

Livestock, Pasture

Producers can reduce carbon hoofprint while boosting profitability

By Alexis Kienlen September 4, 2019

If you want to raise more environmentally friendly cows, there are several things you can do, say experts. And make money from doing them. Over the last 30 years, the beef sector has improved efficiency by 15 per cent, but it can still do more to reduce methane emissions, said John Basarab, senior research scientist […] Read more

Rig Hand owner and distiller Geoff Stewart repeatedly tried and failed to make a gin from fababeans. But the flowers were a much different story.

News

‘Gin is in’ — spirit’s sales soar here and abroad

By Alexis Kienlen August 30, 2019

Gin was all the rage in the Roaring ’20s — and it seems the cycle is repeating itself a century later. “Gin is in,” said Matthew Hendriks, distiller at Park Distillery in Banff. This simple message was put on a billboard between Calgary and Banff, and in front of the distillery itself, which opened in […] Read more

This map shows the amount of precipitation that has fallen across the Prairies so far this growing season as a percentile. The wettest region is around Edmonton, with precipitation amounts falling into the 90th to 100th percentiles. The driest areas are in southern Alberta and central Manitoba, with some areas seeing values as low as the 10th to  20th percentiles.

Weather

Even in summer it’s cold up there — and that’s good

By Daniel Bezte August 29, 2019

Last issue, we looked at how precipitation forms in warm clouds. But in reality, most of our summertime precipitation comes from thunderstorms, which primarily consist of cold clouds, so we’ll take a look at what cold clouds are and how precipitation forms in them. In general, a cold cloud is one that has at least […] Read more

Crops, Markets, Weather

StatsCan production report may show stronger yields

By Marlo Glass August 23, 2019

MarketsFarm — A challenging growing season across the Prairies has left questions in the market ahead of Statistics Canada’s production report, due out Wednesday. “It’s hard to get a handle on canola this year because, at this stage, the farmers are going to be a bit conservative and err on the side of caution,” said […] Read more

Barley, Crops, Markets, Spring Wheat

Feed weekly outlook: Old-, new-crop barley prices converge

By Marlo Glass August 22, 2019

MarketsFarm — Feed grains prices have been softening as old-crop and new-crop prices converge during harvest. Tracy Green, a grain broker with Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton, said Feedlot Alley is “well-covered” and waiting for harvest. However, buyers in central Alberta are seeing prices around $237 delivered for old-crop barley. For deliveries into Lethbridge for […] Read more

Finishers, Livestock, Markets

Klassen: Feeder cattle falter under fed cattle uncertainty

By Jerry Klassen August 20, 2019

Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices were down $2-$4 on average. The feeder cattle market was hard to define due to limited volumes; however, prices were down $2 to as much as $6 in some cases. The Aug. 9 fire at a Tyson packing plant near Holcomb, Kansas set a negative tone for […] Read more

Crops, Markets, Oats

Oats market steady, watching harvest

By Phil Franz-warkentin August 19, 2019

MarketsFarm — Western Canada’s oats market is stable at prices a bit better than a year ago, as harvest gets underway and participants wait to see how much will move off the combine to the market. Early yield reports range anywhere from 80 to 140 bushels per acre, said Tyler Palmer, grain buyer with Emerson […] Read more

Dutch distributor buys Manitoba Claas dealerships

Cash wheat: Bids get support from U.S. gains

Ample world malt barley supply to limit export prices

GFM Network News