(FIle photo by Allan Dawson)

Winter wheat harvest varies by province

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Depending where a farmer is located, Canada’s winter wheat crop has varied this year. Ontario has long been the country’s powerhouse for winter wheat. Statistics Canada projected the province’s farmers to seed just over one million acres this year, nearly 75 per cent of Canada’s total winter wheat acres. However, Marty Vermey, senior […] Read more

(Gonzalo Calle Asprilla/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. CFTC says Kraft, Mondelez to pay $16M in wheat price manipulation case

Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Thursday Kraft Heinz and Mondelez International will have to pay US$16 million in penalty regarding a wheat manipulation case that dates back to 2015. Kraft Heinz, which was Kraft Foods until 2015, and snack food firm Mondelez bought $90 million of December 2011 wheat […] Read more



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

Feed weekly outlook: Varying yields make for average crop

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Feed grain crop yields are expected to be about average across the Prairies as harvest has kicked off. “It appears we’ll have somewhat of an average crop, with a bunch of high-yield areas and a bunch of low yield areas averaged together,” said Jim Beusekom, president of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. New-crop […] Read more



Figure 1: Purple deadnettle in a wheat field — October 2018 at a yield-reducing population density of around 500 plants per square metre.

PHOTOS: Pest Patrol: Purple deadnettle and henbit control in winter wheat

#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA

Reading Time: 3 minutes Q: I’m seeing more henbit and/or purple deadnettle in my winter wheat crop. Should it be controlled, and how? A: Henbit and purple deadnettle are often discussed interchangeably because they look similar, are from the same genus (Lamium) and have similar emergence patterns (mainly in the fall, but henbit will also emerge in spring). Both […] Read more


Guess who’s paying for new grain grading?

Guess who’s paying for new grain grading?

New CGC regulations would add DON and falling number to Canada’s grade specifications

Reading Time: 8 minutes A proposal by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) to add two grading factors to its list of parameters is stirring considerable debate, mostly among members of the western Canadian food value chain, but also in the east. The two factors revealed in a document published by the CGC late last year are falling number (FN) […] Read more

New crop barley bids are between C$225 and C$230 per tonne.  Photo: File

Feed weekly outlook: Barley prices soften before harvest

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm – As harvest season kicks off for feed grains, new crop prices are at “market-clearing levels.” Allen Pirness of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge, Alta., said cattle farmers are “in pretty good shape for old crop grain,” and are “waiting for new crop to hit.” “It’s taking its toll on prices a little bit, […] Read more


David Kaminski, a field crop pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, urges producers to be aware of nearby streams when picking oat varieties, thanks to the prevalence of common buckthorn, a wild host for crown rust.

Wild host a thorn in the side for oat growers

Common buckthorn is a haven for crown rust spores over the winter and an easy source of infection if the farmer opts for a susceptible oat variety

Reading Time: 2 minutes Oat growers may want to gauge the distance to the nearest woody stream bed the next time they choose a variety. That’s one of the messages sent out during this year’s Crop Diagnostic School in Carman in the first two weeks of July. Why it matters: Manitoba’s most popular oat varieties have either been downgraded […] Read more

“All of our customers in feedlot alley are all thinking the same thing – that ‘prices will go down.’”  Photo: Thinkstock

Feed weekly outlook: Feed grain bids fall with rain

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm – Improving crop conditions have weighed on Western Canadian feed barley prices over the past month as attention turns from the tight old crop supply situation to the upcoming harvest. “Prices are dropping every day it rains,” said Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities in Lethbridge, Alta. He said barley prices have come off by […] Read more