Bacterial leaf streak is often confused for stripe rust, but without the orange spores.

Watch for bacterial leaf streak in your wheat and barley this year

Reading Time: < 1 minute Cereal growers across Alberta should keep bacterial leaf streak in their sights this year. “It’s not a new pathogen, but it’s what I’d call an emerging pathogen,” said provincial researcher Michael Harding. “It’s becoming more and more prevalent and even causing some economic loss in cereals.” Most growers don’t watch for it or manage it […] Read more

(Jack Dykinga photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Prairie farm slapped with plant breeders’ rights infringement penalties

Farmers need to know who they are buying seed from to avoid potentially significant costs

Infringing on Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR) has cost a large southern Alberta farm a record $737,597. “The settlement relates to unauthorized advertisements and sales of PBR-protected barley and wheat varieties,” Alliance Seed, SeCan and an unnamed seed company said in a news release Wednesday. The settlement “includes the royalties, plus legal fees and penalties,” Todd […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley, wheat at par in Alberta

Demand also seen for heated canola

MarketsFarm — Prices for feed barley and wheat are running about the same, from where Susanne Leclerc sits at Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton. Barley and wheat going into central Alberta were both running at $315 per tonne, she said. “We’re seeing buyer strength gaining coverage for the summer,” she said, but noted trading activity […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Demand strong for Canadian wheat

MarketsFarm — Domestically-grown feed wheat is seeing stronger prices and increased demand — but unlike other commodities, the demand is coming from Canada itself. Wheat has become a more desirable crop for feed rations in recent months as barley prices have risen due to increasing exports to China. With less barley available to feedlots, wheat […] Read more

(WPohlDesign/iStock/Getty Images)

Klassen: Cold weather slows feeder cattle market activity

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were relatively unchanged. Extreme temperatures blanketed Western Canada last week. Many auction barns cancelled sales or had limited numbers on offer. Buyers attended sales either in person or via the internet, which was supportive to the overall price structure. Many backgrounders and cow-calf producers delayed sales […] Read more


A barley crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on July 30, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley demand pressures domestic supply

MarketsFarm — Increasing demand for feed barley has created a strong but extremely tightened market for the crop and it may potentially buck seeding predictions for 2021-22. Peter Watts, managing director of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre in Winnipeg, said rising demand from China is also raising prices for feed barley, urging growers to […] Read more



File photo of a barley field in Argentina. (Juan Pablo Marchelletti/iStock/Getty Images)

Argentine truckers end strike, freeing China-bound barley

Canada, France would have been buyers' Plan B

Buenos Aires | Reuters — Argentine truckers ended a 20-day strike that had blocked access to ports in Buenos Aires province, agricultural industry sources said on Tuesday, following a deal struck with local officials to increase freight-hauling rates. Trucks owners grouped in the informal TUDA association (Transportistas Unidos de Argentina) began blocking highways last month, […] Read more