Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s potato industry is making a big impact — not just on that province but the entire country. A new report — dubbed a “landmark study” by the Potato Growers of Alberta — revealed the sector drove a total contribution of $2.87 billion to Canada’s economy in 2022. It also notes the nationwide creation of […] Read more
Alberta potatoes chip in $2.9 billion for Canadian economy
New report verifies what many in industry suspected
Canola crush plants seeing big-time profits
High crush margins mean demand should stay strong, but premiums for growers are scarce
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canola crush profits are high, but that’s no reason for growers to break out the champagne, say Alberta producers. Crush plants are riding a wave of demand and processed about 794,000 tonnes of seed in September, the most in a year. And with crush margins well above $200 per tonne for futures contracts (more […] Read more
Feed barley yields from malt varieties?
An Alberta project compares how both types benefit from high N and PGRs
Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s a disappointment when barley intended for the malt house winds up in the feed market because it doesn’t meet maltsters’ strict specifications. It’s why many growers have given up on barley altogether — malt premiums are hard to attain while feed barley yields don’t offer the revenue of competing crops. But some researchers have […] Read more
A new plan of attack for resistant wild oats
With more wild oats showing resistance to Group 8 herbicides, this action committee is going on the offence
Reading Time: 5 minutes In the 1970s, the Wild Oat Action Committee was formed to encourage farmers to control the pesky weed, especially with herbicides. Now a new version is back, but with an ironic twist — the herbicides aren’t working. A recent Prairie-wide study reveals 69 per cent of tested wild oats proved resistant to some modes of […] Read more
Rye sees a resurgence
New high-yielding hybrids with better ergot resistance are finding a home in the pasture and feedlot
Reading Time: 6 minutes Rye — arguably the runt of the litter among Prairie grains in recent decades — has staged something of a comeback. But this isn’t your granddaddy’s rye. Since 2016, rye’s acreage across the Prairies has been on a steady climb. Statistics Canada pegs last fall’s seedings at 352,500 acres, up from 225,000 four years ago, […] Read more
Getting winter wheat back on track
Insurance coverage for later seeding could help reverse the acreage decline
Reading Time: 5 minutes For many years, Prairie producers have heard about the advantages of winter wheat — high yields, less disease and weed pressure and early harvest. It’s also more duck-friendly — there’s no spring tillage to disturb their nests. That’s the pitch, but in recent years farmers haven’t been buying it. Statistics Canada reports Prairie winter wheat […] Read more
Farming Smarter to make research pay
What’s the best way to fund local research when the usual sources dry up? This research group has new ideas
Reading Time: 5 minutes By keeping its efforts limited to southern Alberta, Farming Smarter, a farmer-led applied research and extension service, is proving it can respond quickly to local crop producers’ immediate needs. “We’re focused on creating opportunities and dealing with issues that farmers themselves face,” explains general manager Ken Coles. “It’s about crop producers saying, for example, ‘We […] Read more
Perennial cereal rye 2.0
After setbacks with an earlier program, Lethbridge researchers are making progress in developing a dual-purpose grain and forage rye
Reading Time: 5 minutes It sounds ideal like the ideal crop. It produces grain every year, has no annual seed and planting costs, provides excellent weed control and you can also use it for forage. Too good to be true? Maybe not. Efforts to develop perennial wheat continue their slow pace with commercialization pegged at around 15 years from […] Read more
Keeping your stored grain cool and dry
With increased storage depth comes increased risk. Are we moving enough air through today’s larger grain bins?
Reading Time: 5 minutes For anyone visiting the rural Prairies for the first time in a few years, one of the first things they might notice is that those are not their dad’s grain bins — 20,000- to 50,000-bushel bins are now a common sight. But bigger bins mean bigger challenges in managing moisture, and bigger losses if things […] Read more
Sorting out the stacks
New research in Alberta suggests big yield gains for wheat when combining some agronomic practices — especially dual fungicide applications
Reading Time: 6 minutes Farmers experiment with their agronomic practices all the time. It’s not uncommon to see them “stack” inputs, for instance by combining fertilizer, plant growth regulators (PGRs) and fungicides to see which combinations boost their yields. But until recently, there has been little in the way of small-plot research into the yield potential of stacking agronomic […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
