Barley south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 3, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley bids rise on weather woes, tight old-crop supplies

MarketsFarm — Tight old-crop supplies and mounting weather concerns over new-crop production are keeping feed grain prices well supported in Western Canada as end-users work to ration supplies. “We’ve seen a very real weather market emerge in the last few weeks,” said Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta., pointing to wet conditions hampering […] Read more



A sunflower crop in Manitoba. (MysticEnergy/Getty Images)

Sunflowers doing well despite drought

MarketsFarm — Though many producers bemoan current drier-than-normal springtime conditions across the Prairies, sunflower crops are primed for a good year. “As long as there’s enough moisture to germinate, they immediately grow a really deep root system,” said Ben Friesen of Scoular Canada. While Statistics Canada estimated the 2019 sunflower acreage to remain pretty much […] Read more

Vegetation growth index for the Prairie provinces compared to average as of May 26. (CCAP)

Canadian crop development behind average

MarketsFarm — Crop development is running behind average across much of Canada, with excessive moisture delaying seeding in Ontario and dryness slowing crop development across the Prairies. That’s according to the latest satellite data from the federal Crop Condition Assessment Program (CCAP), created in partnership between Statistics Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Crop development […] Read more



Major crops in Alberta nearly all seeded, pastures see delayed growth

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of May 28

Reading Time: 4 minutes Relatively good weather over the past week has resulted in good seeding progress. As of May 28, provincially about 91 per cent of major crops have been seeded, compared to 72 per cent a week ago and the 5-year average (2014-2018) of 79 per cent. Regionally, seeding progress was most advanced at 95 per cent […] Read more





Precipitation percentiles on the Prairies for the period of April 1 to May 23, 2019. (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Drought Watch)

Prairie dryness concerns to persist

MarketsFarm — Large areas of Western Canada remain on the dry side, with little moisture in the immediate forecasts. And while it’s still early in the growing season, the interplay of conflicting patterns from the south and north will determine whether the dry areas receive timely precipitation during the growing season. “We are looking at […] Read more

Dry weather sees good seeding progress

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of May 21, 2019

Reading Time: 4 minutes Since April 1, the western parts of the province received at least 40 mm of accumulated precipitation, while areas in the northern parts of the Peace Region, eastern parts of the North West, most parts of the Central, and eastern parts of the Southern Region have seen less than 20 mm of rain. Frost was […] Read more


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