(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prairie barley market still strong

Availability of trucks remains an issue

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — The feed barley market remains strong despite the influx of freshly harvested supplies, with little competition from other feed sources. “The markets have been coming up steadily, with what feels like no harvest pressure,” said Suzanne Leclerc, owner of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton. “People were hoping the market would get lower and […] Read more

“There is uncertainty every spring about the conditions you’re going to experience, so a broad-spectrum seed treatment is always a worthwhile addition.” – David Kaminski, Manitoba Agriculture.

No ROI for seed treatments — so far

Results to date were from dry years, so watch for 2022 results

Reading Time: 3 minutes Sometimes it’s all or nothing where Mother Nature is concerned. The growing seasons in 2020 and 2021 were both dry, so it’s perhaps not surprising that in a trial designed to quantify the impact of using a seed treatment on spring wheat, there’d be very little return on investment in those years. It’ll be more […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: External factors raise bids

U.S. wheat futures gain on the week

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Despite the usual harvest pressures, western Canadian wheat bids jumped during the week ended Thursday, largely due to geopolitical and macroeconomic factors. The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday again raised its key interest rate to combat rising inflation — this time a 75 basis point increase, to 3.25 per cent. The rate hike […] Read more

Wheat in progress west of Pathlow, Sask. on Aug. 1, 2022. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Good grain yields seen in Saskatchewan, Manitoba

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Despite delays in the ongoing barley and wheat harvests across the eastern Prairies, early indications have suggested healthy amounts of grain production. “Eastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba still have a bit of harvest to go, but generally the yields are good,” Glen Loyns, general manager of JGL Commodities at Moose Jaw, Sask., said. “Quality […] Read more


Kochia is a particular problem for lentils, as there are no post-emergent options for control.

Winter wheat is a kochia killer

Its head start in the spring gives it an advantage over the troublesome weed

Reading Time: 3 minutes As a yield-limiting weed, kochia has a lot going for it. A single plant can spread tens of thousands of seeds over a wide area after it dries out and starts travelling like a tumbleweed. All kochia across the Prairies is considered resistant to ALS inhibitors (Group 2), but kochia can also be resistant to […] Read more

MGEX December 2022 spring wheat (candlesticks) with K.C. December 2022 hard red wheat (yellow line) and CBOT December 2022 soft red wheat (orange line). (Barchart)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids move higher

U.S. wheat futures gain on week

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Spring wheat bids in Western Canada strengthened during the week ended Thursday, as gains in U.S. futures and weakness in the Canadian dollar provided support. The advances came despite seasonal harvest pressure and an upward revision to Statistics Canada’s production estimate for the country’s spring wheat crop. Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS, […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prairie grain bids see surprising harvest strength

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Feed grain bids in Western Canada have shown some strength in recent weeks, despite the advancing harvest. “We’ve been seeing a rally through harvest, which is an odd thing,” grain merchant Jay Janzen of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. said. He tied the unseasonable strength to solid demand and a lack of significant […] Read more

Use of plant growth regulators (PGRs) is on the rise to protect wheat crops being managed more intensively.

Shorter straw, longer crop

More wheat growers are finding the benefits of plant growth regulators

Reading Time: 5 minutes Wheat growers always want to boost yields and cut costs, but this year’s combination of high prices and high input costs has called for an even sharper pencil. That’s led to heightened management in managing cereals — and winter wheat, in particular — with greater intensity than in the past. The success of the Great […] Read more


(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Putin comments raise wheat bids

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin brought more uncertainty to Ukrainian wheat shipments, which in turn helped raise western Canadian wheat bids for the week ended Thursday. On Wednesday at an economic forum in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, Putin said the Ukrainians were “cheating,” adding that grain shipments from the country […] Read more

Barley. (Doug Wilson photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Feed weekly outlook: No effect seen on Alberta crops from hot, wet weather

Feed grain bids up on week in Alberta, Saskatchewan

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Harvest activity in Alberta continues to progress despite wet weather during the past week, according to Mike Fleischhauer, trader for Eagle Commodities in Lethbridge. “We had some rain here about a week to 10 days ago. So, it puts some people in Alberta and Saskatchewan a little bit behind,” he said. “It’s been […] Read more