(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prices slip during quiet January

Shortages of trucks, drivers still trouble cattle sector

MarketsFarm — With January being a quiet time there’s isn’t a whole lot of direction for feed grains, according to Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. Prices for feed barley and wheat have been slowing slipping, he said — especially with feedlots not having to buy and farmers not needing to sell — […] Read more

The online calculator can be used for spring wheat and feed barley.

Find the best bang for your fertilizer buck

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta’s wheat and barley commissions have a nitrogen rate of return calculator available on their website. The calculator, developed by well-known research agronomist Rigas Karamanos, “can be used to evaluate different net return per acre scenarios which compare different N sources and costs, various crop prices and soil test N levels,” Alberta Wheat and Barley […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Corn imports still weigh on domestic feed market

MarketsFarm — Ample corn imports from the U.S. continue to keep the western Canadian feed grain market under pressure, with barley bids in Lethbridge trending lower through the early days of 2023. “We started the year with cash barley trading at roughly $450 (per tonne) in Lethbridge, it’s since declined to roughly $435,” said Jim […] Read more



Book celebrates farmers who ‘never gave up the fight’

Book celebrates farmers who ‘never gave up the fight’

Reading Time: < 1 minute The Western Barley Growers Association has produced a coffee-table book on its history and how the organization, headquartered in Airdrie, has made a difference. The book, titled Western Barley’s Legacy, covers more than four decades of the group’s history, from its formation in “a small community hall in Carseland” to its efforts to “challenge the […] Read more

Photo: Canada Beef

Klassen: Feeder market to start 2023 on firm tone

Counter-seasonal behaviour expected

There were no market reports last week due to the holiday season; however, I still received a few calls from cattle producers regarding the feeder market outlook for the first quarter of 2023. The feeder market finished 2022 at 52-week highs. Steers averaging 500 lbs. were readily trading over the psychological $300 level while 900-lb. […] Read more


Grain bins in a Saskatchewan field. (MysticEnergy/iStock/Getty Images)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain, price movement ongoing over holidays

Colder weather stymies deliveries

MarketsFarm — With the Christmas break come and gone, more grain is being delivered to feedlots, according to one Lethbridge trader. Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities Ltd. said that despite the holiday season, in which lighter activity is expected, there was still some movement in feed grain prices. Wheat and barley were both valued at […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

No leadership change prior to grain groups’ merger

Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Barley’s senior leaders are staying on as the farm group heads toward amalgamation with Alberta Wheat. Following its AGM earlier this month, the organization said Acme producer Tara Sawyer is staying on as chair and Roy Newman, who farms in the Blackie area, will continue to serve as vice-chair. “During this critical time period […] Read more


Barley. (Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Alberta barley bids steady heading into holidays

MarketsFarm — The Lethbridge feed grain market is holding relatively steady heading into the holiday season, with ample imports of corn from the U.S. keeping a lid on prices. Reports out of Alberta’s feedlot alley peg the upper edge of delivered barley bids in the $430-$435 area, with feed wheat seeing similar prices. Feedlots are […] Read more

Three of the five strips where no PGR was applied (outlined in black) showed a considerable amount of severe lodging.

Trial examines plant growth regulators under real-life conditions

There was a reduction in lodging but PGR effectiveness depends on the product, variety and location

Reading Time: 4 minutes Do plant growth regulators reduce lodging in wheat? They had an impact, but not a huge one, in an on-farm field trial done under the Plot2Farm program this year. “What we’ve seen is that they are not a silver bullet when it comes to lodging,” said Jeremy Boychyn, agronomy research extension manager for Alberta Barley […] Read more