crop sign in a field

WGRF investment dollars in research making the difference

Farmer funding has helped with the development of many well-known cereal varieties at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre

Reading Time: 4 minutes Another growing season is well underway at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre (CDC), thanks in large part to farmer investments furnished through the Western Grains Research Foundation (WGRF). Wheat and barley breeders at Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre along with about 45 research technicians and field workers plant, maintain, monitor and harvest about 150,000 […] Read more


bags of grain ready for testing

Testing the quality of the 2014 wheat harvest

Here’s how Cigi figures out if your wheat will make good bread

Reading Time: 3 minutes Helping customers make wise buying decisions is an important part of customer service. This is especially true when buyers are purchasing significant quantities of a commodity produced thousands of kilometres away — like wheat grown in Western Canada for example. For over 10 years, Cigi (Canadian International Grains Institute) has completed an annual harvest assessment, […] Read more

Prairie malt barley crop’s quality still up in air

Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada — Questions are being asked over how much barley in Western Canada will be good enough to meet malting standards in 2014-15. This year’s crop was already going to be smaller than last year’s, said Brian Otto, past-president with the Western Barley Growers Association. Statistics Canada estimated overall barley production at 7.2 million […] Read more


End-users such as pasta processors seeking top-drawer durum wheat may not find enough supplies, even at higher prices, due to quality issues with the current crop. (ILovePasta.org)

Tighter supplies of higher-quality durum boosting bids

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Tight European supplies of high-quality durum are boosting North American prices for the grain — but there are also quality issues with the Canadian and U.S. crops limiting how much durum will actually be sold at those stronger prices. “There is a very large durum program to northern Europe this year,” said […] Read more

(Country Guide file photo)

Prairie cash wheat prices up as U.S. futures move higher

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Average cash bids for wheat were firmer across Western Canada during the week ended Friday, lifted by strengthening U.S. futures and improving basis levels for some classes of wheat. CWRS (Canada Western Red Spring) prices were up between C$10 and $16 compared to a week ago, with the best pricing opportunities still […] Read more



Russia surprises peers with early wheat export market exit

Reading Time: 3 minutes London/Moscow | Reuters — Russian wheat has made a surprise early exit from key global export markets, despite the country’s near-record crop, after domestic prices rose in the fallout from the Ukraine crisis. With a bumper crop and the rouble close to historic lows, Russia could reasonably be expected to actively supply wheat to key […] Read more


(Country Guide file photo)

Prairie CWRS bids up with improving basis

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — Average cash bids for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat were firmer across Western Canada during the week ended Friday, lifted by improving basis levels in many areas as quality problems and slow harvest progress remain a concern for the Canadian spring wheat crop. The highest CWRS prices were still available in […] Read more

Agricorp extends Ont. winter wheat deadlines

Reading Time: 2 minutes Ontario’s farm program delivery agency has put a seven-day extension on deadlines for seeding and reporting winter wheat acres in the province’s south. Citing “advancements in farm management techniques and hardier varieties of wheat,” Agricorp on Friday announced a new set of deadlines for winter wheat and organic winter spelt. For all fall-seeded crops, the […] Read more