The New Year still hasn’t whetted the appetite for corn from the United States to Alberta feedlots.

Feed grain weekly outlook: More U.S. corn deliveries to feedlots
Frigid temperatures unlikely to disrupt grain deliveries, analyst says

Sask. canola, flax groups vote to merge
SaskCanola and SaskFlax have been sharing offices, admin for about a year
Producer support for the merge of SaskCanola and SaskFlax was "overwhelming," the groups said in a Jan. 10 news release. The organizations held a joint annual general meeting to share results of member feedback before taking the issue to a vote. The vote passed with "widespread approval," the release said.

Prairie forecast: Frigid temperatures moving in
Issued Jan. 10, 2024, covering Jan 10 to 17
Coldest temperatures look to be over the western prairies but there looks to be some relief from the really cold temperatures early next week. With cold arctic high pressure dominating, little in the way of snow is expected during this forecast period.

Court remedy sought for unfulfilled contracts
Sask. company claims equipment breakdown at a third-party mill caused it to declare force majeure on contracted oats
More than two dozen farmers are moving ahead with legal action against Purely Canada Foods after it failed to honour contracts for gluten-free oats. The dispute centres on 2022 gluten-free oat contracts. On March 1, 2023, the company sent a letter to the farmers saying it was voiding the contracts because oat processing machinery had failed the previous fall and it couldn’t accept the crop.

Prairie spring wheat bids start year on a soft note
The Canadian dollar again weakened relative to the greenback
Spring wheat bids in Western Canada moved lower during the first week of 2024, as losses in the United States futures more than countered the supportive influence of a weaker Canadian dollar.

Feed weekly outlook: Several factors weighing on prices
Warm weather means less feed needed, easier movement says analyst
Feed grain prices across the Canadian Prairies are expected to continue falling back for the next few months due to a number of reasons, according to Evan Peterson of JGL Commodities in Saskatoon, Sask.

Prairie forecast: Winter temperatures moving in
Issued Jan. 03, covering: Jan. 3 – 10
Looking at this forecast period, the best way I can describe it is that we will be seeing a slow slide into more seasonal temperatures. The persistent upper-level ridging that brought warm--and record warm temperatures--to much of the prairies in December has broken down. The weather models are showing a trough of low pressure developing over the west coast over the next seven days.

Sask. union serves Viterra strike notice
Grain handling giant says its committed to negotiation, but has contingency plans in place
Yesterday, the union issued Viterra a 72-hour notice that they intend to strike as early as 2:00 pm on Jan. 5.
GSU members from Viterra Country Operations and Maintenance and Viterra's Regina head office have been negotiating for "fair wages, improved work-life balance, and workplace respect," for more than a year, the union said.

Hepworth honoured for agricultural achievements
The London, Ont. resident started as a Sask. farmer and vet before moving to politics, then research
Lorne Hepworth, former Saskatchewan agriculture minister and current chair of the Agriculture Research Institute of Ontario, has been named a member of the Order of Canada.

Prairie forecast: One more week of above average temperatures
Issued Dec. 27, covering Dec. 27 to Jan. 3
As we head into a new year, it's looking like this could be the last mild forecast period before a switch to a more typical winter weather pattern.
As usual, there is always a fair bit of uncertainty in forecasts beyond seven or so days, but we all knew that at some point we'd see some cold wintery weather move in.