(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Yearling prices remain firm

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets were relatively unchanged with the exception of southern Alberta where 800-plus-lb. feeders traded $5 to as much as $8 higher. Strength in deferred live cattle futures and weakness in barley prices were the main factors driving demand in the Lethbridge area. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s bullish […] Read more

Barley south of Ethelton, Sask. in early August 2017. (File photo by Dave Bedard)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley’s slide slows as harvest drags

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The slide in western Canadian feed grain prices over the past few months shows signs of slowing, as concerns over harvest delays supplant earlier concerns over large crops and quality downgrades. “The weather over the next week or so doesn’t look that great,” Allen Pirness of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge said Thursday. […] Read more


As value-adding grows and transforms more farms across the country, the Hamills at Red Shed Malting find it’s an ideal family solution for them too, providing roles, opportunities and challenges that they couldn’t have achieved through simple land expansion.

Alberta growers add value by producing high-quality malting barley

How — and why — this enterprising Alberta farm family built themselves a platform in Canada’s fast-growing craft beer industry

Reading Time: 10 minutes John Hamill has always liked showing the family’s Penhold, Alta. farm to anyone who asks. After all, the 2,200-acre farm, growing wheat, canola and high-quality malting barley, and home to now a fourth generation of Hamills, is his pride and joy. “But before, no one was asking,” says his son Matt, smiling. Hamill Farms Ltd. […] Read more

Red Shed Malting adds value to the farm’s barley by producing premium-quality base malts, plus lightly kilned and roasted specialty malts made from them.

Why marketing is the test, no matter how great your idea

“It’s a mind-shift,” says value-add pro Gary Morton. Success takes groundwork, strategic planning… and money

Reading Time: 3 minutes Branding that identifies you as the producer and connects buyers to your farm product is a key strategy for adding value to farm products, says Halifax-based business consultant Gary Morton with Morton Horticultural Associates. “You are kind of in a sea of sameness,” says Morton, who has worked with all types of farms, not only […] Read more


(File photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Market not bottomed yet

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Falling feed grain prices in Western Canada have not hit the bottom just yet, especially as harvest delays lead to quality downgrades. “I would say it’s coming down quite a bit more,” said Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities in Lethbridge. The barley and wheat harvests are running behind normal in both Saskatchewan and […] Read more



(Rahr.com)

Ample world malt barley supply to limit export prices

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canadian malt barley growers may be dealing with adverse harvest conditions that could lead to quality downgrades in some areas — while world supplies of the key beer ingredient remain more than sufficient to meet global demand. “There’s no real indication at this time that we’ll see a significant up move (in price),” […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Statistics Canada boosts crop production estimates

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Updated model-based production estimates on Thursday from Statistics Canada expect larger yields for most of the major crops grown in the country — and while harvest operations are still ongoing, the actual crops may end up larger still. “All of the numbers are bigger, whether it’s durum, spring wheat, canola,” said analyst Mike […] Read more


(Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Frost strikes in numerous spots in Manitoba

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Numerous areas throughout the growing areas of Manitoba experienced frost, according to the province’s crop report for the week ended Monday. The coldest locations were Sprague in the eastern region, Narcisse in the Interlake and Lake Audy in the southwest, which experienced temperatures of -2 C on Sept. 8. Many other areas saw […] Read more

Harvest weather so far this fall may cost barley end-users seeking malting-grade product this year, the CMBTC warns. (Dave Bedard photo)

As harvest drags on, malt barley quality uncertain

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The quality of Canada’s 2019-20 barley crop remains to be seen, as cool and wet harvest conditions across much of the Prairies are raising concerns over how much will meet malt specifications. “We’ll lose a lot of malting barley this year, because of the weather,” said Peter Watts, managing director of the Canadian […] Read more