Get more with wheat

Get more with wheat

Wheat deserves more credit for the great outlook on Ontario farms

Reading Time: 6 minutes In formulating their crop plans for a year, growers cite a blend of influences, from climate and planting conditions to commodity pricing, fertility plans and weed and disease management strategies. All play a part in the decision-making process because there has to be some give in those hard-and-fast rules on rotations. Sometimes you have to […] Read more

A sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to drought may force bakers to change how they work with flour.  Photo: DanielBendjy/E+/Getty Images

Millers, bakers fret as drought withers North America’s spring wheat

Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters – Millers and bakers are draining wheat reserves and paying more for spring wheat used in baking, as drought shrivels crops across the Canadian Prairies and northern U.S. Plains that produce more than half of the world’s supply. U.S. and Canadian farmers are bracing for a sharply smaller spring wheat harvest due to the […] Read more



The 4DWheat project aims to apply the latest genomic strategies to boost yields and reduce disease losses in wheat crops.

Better wheat varieties ahead

Genome editing and CRISPR technology are scoring bigger wins in shorter time frames for cereal breeding

Reading Time: 5 minutes Last November, the 10+ Genome Project and its international team of researchers were hailed for their role in sequencing the genomes of 15 wheat varieties from around the world. It was an astounding accomplishment with great potential for cereal breeding, particularly for a sector that struggles to keep up with the investments being made in […] Read more



(Alkestida/iStock/Getty Images)

Durum markets reckon with weather

'There was no wiggle room for a crop problem'

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — The higher temperatures soared and the longer between rains in Western Canada, the lower the yield projections for most crops — and drought-tolerant durum wheat is no exception. With bids already elevated due to a downturn in potential new-crop supply, the price of durum could rise even higher. “There’s not a lot of […] Read more



CBOT December 2021 oats (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)

Oat crop across Western Canada ‘not stellar’

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — As with most other crops on the Prairies, conditions are “not stellar” for oats, according to Shawna Mathieson, executive director for the Prairie Oat Growers Association. POGA directors from across the region who participated in a recent board meeting had a rather grim outlook on the coming harvest, she said. “Not a single […] Read more


Figure 1: A field of winter wheat where bluegrass has headed at the same time.

Pest Patrol: Bluegrass management in winter wheat

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: 3 minutes Yield losses of more than 50 per cent can occur from bluegrass competition in winter wheat. As well, because bluegrass species often head at the same time as winter wheat, they could intercept and reduce the amount of fusarium head blight fungicide that actually reaches the grain head (Figure 1 at top).  There are several […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids up with strong gains in U.S. markets

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Bids spiked for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS), Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR), and durum (CWAD) wheats in Western Canada for the week ended Thursday. Steep increases in U.S. wheat futures supported values, as did a lower Canadian dollar which lost more than a half cent. Average CWRS (13.5 per cent protein) wheat […] Read more