Reading Time: 5 minutes Fusarium head blight continued its devastating march across Alberta last summer, and shows no sign of slowing down. “It’s become something that’s well established in the southern part of the province, and the situation is starting to change elsewhere in the province, especially central and northern Alberta,” said Kelly Turkington, a research scientist with Agriculture […] Read more
Fusarium head blight infections hit record high in 2016
Almost one-quarter of cereal samples from 2016 have tested positive for fusarium head blight — a 10 per cent jump from 2014’s previous record high
Root rot pathogens deliver one-two punch to pea fields
Reading Time: 3 minutes Two root rot pathogens are teaming up to wreak havoc in Alberta’s pea fields. “Before 2016, I thought that we were just dealing with fusarium root rot in the brown soil zone, but 2016 completely changed that hypothesis,” said Syama Chatterton, plant pathologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “We saw a lot of aphanomyces root […] Read more
Low-quality feed being dumped on market
CNS Canada — Prices for feed barley and wheat don’t appear ready to spike anytime soon, as farmers across Western Canada continue to dump supplies containing high concentrations of vomitoxin and fusarium into feedlots. “Steady as it goes here is the tone,” said Allan Pirness of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. “We’re looking to clean […] Read more
New Crop Missions deliver many benefits
The unique collaboration between the grain commission, Cigi, and farmers is more than just a marketing effort
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Canadian cereals industry is united in reaching out to international customers. The 2016 Canadian Wheat New Crop Missions sessions kicked off on Nov. 10 with a seminar for Canadian millers, the largest buyer of Canadian wheat. By the time the missions are over later this month, they will have reached customers in 17 countries in […] Read more
Testing your wheat could earn you a higher price
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Wheat Commission is reminding growers to know all the factors affecting the quality of their wheat to ensure they are getting the best price. If growers are not satisfied with downgrades due to sprout damage or fusarium head blight, they should consider getting a second opinion. “The falling number may meet the specification […] Read more
Even a dry year didn’t slow fusarium’s invasion
Many expected fusarium levels to drop last year, but instead it spread east and north and was worse in the south
Reading Time: 3 minutes Despite dry weather in 2015, fusarium head blight was found in almost twice as many counties as it was in 2010. A province-wide survey conducted by provincial scientists detected fusarium graminearum — the pathogen that causes fusarium head blight in cereals — in 22 counties in Alberta, up from 13 counties in the 2010 survey. […] Read more
Fusarium’s relentless march across the Prairies
Reading Time: < 1 minute It’s just a 47-second-long animation showing the incidence of a crop disease, but for Alberta producers it should come with a ‘disturbing content’ warning. The video, created by BASF Canada, uses Canadian Grain Commission data on the percentage of fusarium-damaged kernels in Canada Western Red Spring wheat found in its Harvest Sample Program from 2003 […] Read more
Dry harvest weather came, and then it went
Alberta crop conditions as of September 20
Reading Time: < 1 minute Farmers were able to make good harvest progress this past week as a period of warm, dry weather covered much of the province before the return to rain and showers this past weekend slowed everything to a crawl again. Harvest progress improved by 15 per cent percentage points on the week to 35 per cent […] Read more
Quality Canadian durum may be in short supply
CNS Canada — Quality issues with the Canadian durum crop currently being harvested should see the price spreads between top- and low-end grain widen considerably, especially as the carryout from the previous year is also poor quality. Canadian durum stocks, as of July 31, were pegged at 1.1 million tonnes by Statistics Canada in a […] Read more
Quality still a question for Canada’s big wheat crop
CNS Canada — Canadian farmers are sitting on a very large wheat crop this year, but the moisture that helped boost yields also caused disease issues and supplies of higher-quality wheat may still be in short supply. While the spring wheat harvest is just getting started and it’s hard to get a firm handle on […] Read more
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