File photo of a combine harvesting a wheat crop in Ukraine. (SergBob/iStock/Getty Images)

Demand from China puts Ukraine barley above top-end milling wheat

Kyiv | Reuters — Prices for Ukrainian-origin barley from this year’s harvest have exceeded those of high quality milling wheat due to strong demand from China, analysts at APK-Inform said on Friday. Forward contract prices for 2021 harvest barley stood at $220-$230 a tonne c.p.t. (carriage paid to) Black Sea June-July delivery, while high-quality milling […] Read more



This photo from barleyharvest.ca shows AC Bow — one of three newer varieties being recommended for growers this year — being harvested near Lethbridge late last summer. Although only accounting for 2.7 per cent of malt acres last year, AC Bow moved up to fifth spot in popularity. Another recommended variety, AAC Connect, took fourth spot at 5.2 per cent of acres while the third, CDC Fraser, 
was in seventh place (2.1 per cent of acres).

Newer and better malt varieties starting to get some love

Maltsters still smitten with the old standards but the future belongs to new varieties

Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s a slow process to get international maltsters to accept new barley varieties, partly because of unfamiliarity and partly because farmers aren’t growing enough of them. “They do prefer what they know, which are varieties like AC Metcalfe and CDC Copeland,” said Peter Watts, managing director of the Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre. “But a […] Read more



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