Reading Time: < 1 minute There was less malt barley produced this year but what did come off looked good, according to the Canadian Grain Commission. The organization’s 2017 Quality of Western Canadian Malting Barley report noted lower production, less acres, and a yield decrease, but high kernel weights and plumpness across the Prairies. Alberta and northeastern B.C. (the two […] Read more
Malting barley production down, quality up
Western Canada’s barley acres continue to fall, but malting barley quality was excellent
Jason Lenz continues as Alberta Barley chair
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Barley’s board of directors has re-elected Jason Lenz as chair and Dave Bishop as vice-chair. Lenz has been with Alberta Barley since becoming a delegate in 2009 and farms 2,500 acres of canola, wheat, barley, and fababeans near Bentley and also has a small cow-calf herd. Bishop, who farms near Barons, has been a […] Read more
Alberta malt barley quality looking good
CNS Canada — Despite a wet spring and problems with dryness in the summer, barley in central Alberta is looking fairly good, according to a grower in the Red Deer area. “We had a really good malt crop this year, the quality is excellent,” said Matt Hamill of Red Shed Malting at Red Deer. “It […] Read more
New technology poised to give barley a boost
Researchers aim to breed barley tailored to very specific needs
Reading Time: 5 minutes There’s a bright future for boring old barley. Aside from malt, barley doesn’t generate a lot of excitement for Prairie grain growers — something you can see in acreage figures (which have fallen by more than a third in Alberta and by nearly half in Western Canada during the past decade). But new technology is […] Read more
Now is the time to create next year’s battle plan for fusarium
Scouting this year is the first step in limiting the impact of the cereal disease next year
Reading Time: 2 minutes Although it’s likely too late to apply a fungicide for fusarium graminearum, producers can still use the information they gather about the outbreak to plan for subsequent growing seasons. Fusarium graminearum is considered the most important fusarium head blight (FHB) species due to its aggressiveness and production of deoxynivalenol or DON (a.k.a. vomitoxin), said crop […] Read more
Heat LQ cleared for pre-harvest use in wheat, barley
Wheat, durum and barley growers have a new pre-harvest herbicide option now that BASF has received Codex maximum residue limits (MRLs) for its product Heat LQ. While “there were probably some wheat acres already harvested,” according to Dan Packer, BASF’s cereals crop manager, this agreement will provide an additional pre-harvest option for farmers who still […] Read more
Malt barley outlook promising, but harvest quality will be key
CNS Canada – Many questions remain about Western Canada’s malt barley crop, but many analysts appear to expect at least an adequate harvest. Quality concerns and yield reductions will hit farmers in southern areas, but for those with good quality, prices should remain at least steady for the medium term. While analysts cautioned that forecasts […] Read more
Unseeded acres create ripple effect in the number of insured acres this summer
Insured barley and pea acres are down, but canola, lentil, and hemp acres went up
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two years of rough weather conditions haven’t been enough to drive producers to increase their crop insurance coverage. “I don’t think there’s a huge change in the overall level of insurance participation. The reasons people participate aren’t always dependent on the weather,” said Jesse Cole, research analyst at Agriculture Financial Services Corporation (AFSC). “There could […] Read more
Get the lowdown on grain grading
Workshop in Olds on July 27
Reading Time: < 1 minute [UPDATED: July 24, 2017]*: The Making the Grade workshop will be held at Olds College on July 27. Producers will participate in hands-on grading workshops for barley, canola, wheat, and pulses. Speakers from the Canadian Grains Commission, Cigi, and the Canola Council of Canada will guide participants through the details of grading parameters and practices. As […] Read more
Prairie wheat, barley commissions’ single checkoffs set
The post-deregulation era of Prairie grain research and market development funding is cleared to begin, as the three Prairie provinces’ wheat and barley commissions have set new single checkoffs on Prairie wheat and barley, all starting Aug. 1. The Manitoba Wheat and Barley Growers Association (MWBGA) on Wednesday announced that when the Western Canadian Deduction […] Read more
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