Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose 1.2 per cent to a one-week high on Wednesday, extending four-day gains to nearly four per cent on short-covering and concerns about dry weather in U.S. growing regions. Corn and soybeans also firmed, although renewed strength in the dollar capped rallies. At the Chicago Board of Trade, […] Read more

U.S. grains: Wheat rises to one-week high on dry U.S. Plains
Arctic blast hits U.S. Midwest, some wheat at risk of winterkill
Chicago | Reuters –– An arctic blast hitting the heart of the U.S. Midwest soft red winter wheat belt this week will put 10 to 15 per cent of the dormant crop at risk of winterkill damage, agricultural meteorologists said Tuesday. While most of the northern Midwest wheat crop is protected by snow from frigid […] Read more

Winter wheat uptake low despite big efforts to convince producers
The Western Winter Wheat Initiative wants to boost seeding to two million acres — but 2014 plantings were just a third of that
Reading Time: 3 minutes The goal is ambitious — convince Prairie farmers to plant two million acres of winter wheat by 2019 — but the backers of the Western Winter Wheat Initiative admit they have a steep hill to climb. Even though winter wheat yields were 32 per cent better than those for spring wheat in 2012 and offered […] Read more

Mild weather poses risks for Prairie winter wheat
CNS Canada — Milder-than-normal temperatures across Western Canada over the past week could raise some issues for its winter wheat crops, though snow cover and conditions through the rest of the winter will also be important. “It’s not ideal conditions for winter wheat, and I’d anticipate that we’d see some damage,” said CWB analyst Bruce […] Read more

South sees overwintering stripe rust
Early-seeded winter wheat appears to be more susceptible even when resistant varieties are used
Reading Time: 2 minutes Researchers are continuing to monitor plots and a few fields for stripe rust survival throughout the winter and early spring. Evidence of overwintering stripe rust was found last year in central Alberta, and Agriculture Canada researcher Denis Gaudet has extended his stripe rust survey this winter to include some evaluations in southern Alberta. Eight winter […] Read more
Arctic air surge puts U.S. SRW wheat at risk of winterkill
Chicago | Reuters — An arctic blast hitting the U.S. Midwest this week will put a third of the dormant soft red winter (SRW) wheat crop at risk of damage, agricultural meteorologists said Monday. “It looks like extensive sub-zero temperatures on Wednesday night in the soft wheat belt will leave one-third of the belt at […] Read more

Recent mild spell seen hurting Prairie winter wheat
CNS Canada — Recent milder weather seen in Western Canada was unfavourable for winter wheat crops and has left the crops more vulnerable to winterkill. “The major impact is that it melted some of the snow cover that the winter wheat had, and in a lot of cases now some of those fields are bare,” […] Read more
Prairies’ winter wheat looks good heading into dormancy
CNS Canada — There weren’t a lot of acres planted to winter wheat in Western Canada this fall due to the late harvest of many other crops — but what was seeded looks good as it heads into dormancy. “The fields that are there look good, just we have no clue how much there is,” […] Read more

Winter wheat acres should double or triple: expert
AgCanada scientist says winter wheat acres could hit the five-million mark, if crop insurance rules allowed later seeding
Reading Time: 3 minutes If spring comes late or is wet seven months from now, growers waiting to plant spring wheat will be looking with envy at neighbours’ fields of winter wheat. But there should be less envy and more winter wheat than the one million to 1.5 million acres currently grown on the Prairies, says Brian Beres, a […] Read more

When should you fertilize winter wheat?
Research has shown that fertilizing at seeding can be very effective — and a big time saver come spring
Reading Time: 2 minutes AARD Release / Once the decision to grow winter wheat has been made, one question that frequently comes up is when to fertilize. “Traditionally, winter wheat has been seeded with very little fertilizer and then fertilized in the spring,” said Doon Pauly, agronomy research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development in Lethbridge. “Sometimes, however, […] Read more