A barley crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on July 30, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: New-crop expectations weigh on bids

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Feed grain bids in Western Canada have trended lower over the past month amid expectations for large barley production and concerns over possible downgrades to wheat quality. “We’ve definitely seen (barley prices) soften up quite a bit,” said grain broker Nelson Neumann of Agfinity at Stony Plain, Alta. New-crop feed barley is trading […] Read more

(Doug Wilson photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Large oat production won’t move prices

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — While the most recent crop production report from Statistics Canada predicted significantly more oats than originally expected, prices will likely remain stable. Statistics Canada estimated 3.952 million tonnes of oats will be grown in 2019, up considerably from the 3.436 million tonnes produced in 2018. But low carryover stocks from previous years means […] Read more



Barley south of Ethelton, Sask. on July 30, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Old-, new-crop barley prices converge

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Feed grains prices have been softening as old-crop and new-crop prices converge during harvest. Tracy Green, a grain broker with Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton, said Feedlot Alley is “well-covered” and waiting for harvest. However, buyers in central Alberta are seeing prices around $237 delivered for old-crop barley. For deliveries into Lethbridge for […] Read more


Virginie and her father Bernard Lepage.

Building an organic oat supply chain for the future

In English, this Quebec farm’s name means to make speed upwind. No wonder

Reading Time: 6 minutes Surrounded by her parents, sister and brother, Virginie Lepage has a strong grip on Ferme Olofée, Quebec’s biggest organic oatmeal producer and processor. How big, you ask? In other words, how big can an organic oatmeal operation be? Well, annual sales are $9 million. That should answer some questions. This clearly is a young entrepreneur […] Read more

(Elenaphotos/iStock/Getty Images)

Canada boosts 2019-20 wheat production estimate

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Canadian wheat production in 2019-20 is forecast to come in at 500,000 tonnes above an earlier forecast, according to updated supply/demand tables released Wednesday from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Wheat ending stocks were also raised in the report, while adjustments to the canola tables led a slight reduction to the still record-large carryout […] Read more


This IP program for hard red winter wheat is in place for winter wheat planting in the fall.

Program aims to boost winter wheat production

Here’s a wheat IP initiative that looks to take the uncertainty out of the hard red winter market

Reading Time: 6 minutes Into a 2019 growing season long on frustration and short on sunlight comes an opportunity for wheat growers in Ontario: identity-preservation (IP) programs aimed at boosting production of hard red winter wheat. The initiative is meant to tackle declining supply, which, according to some in the industry, has reached levels that pose a viability concern […] Read more

(Sundown001/iStock/Getty Images)

Oats market steady, watching harvest

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Western Canada’s oats market is stable at prices a bit better than a year ago, as harvest gets underway and participants wait to see how much will move off the combine to the market. Early yield reports range anywhere from 80 to 140 bushels per acre, said Tyler Palmer, grain buyer with Emerson […] Read more


Canada/U.S. border signage in downtown Detroit. (RiverNorthPhotography/Getty Images)

USDA attache to Canada predicts larger wheat crop

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — A new report from the Ottawa-based attache to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has raised its estimate of total wheat production in Canada for 2019. The report Thursday from attache Phil Hayes increases FAS’s estimate of wheat production in Canada for 2019 to 32.65 million tonnes, compared to last […] Read more