(Thinkstock photo)

U.S. wheat stocks bigger than expected, trade watching weather

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — A larger-than-expected wheat ending stocks forecast from the U.S. Department of Agriculture weighed on the country’s wheat futures Thursday, with attention now squarely on weather conditions. The government agency pegged wheat carryout for the upcoming 2018-19 marketing year at 955 million bushels, about 30 million above average trade guesses. Total wheat production […] Read more


Beni Abbes, a village in western Algeria. (Cia.gov)

Algeria to open farming concessions to foreigners

Reading Time: 2 minutes Algiers | Reuters — Algeria plans to offer foreign investors concessions for farm land for the first time, according to an official document, as the oil producer seeks to boost food output and reduce reliance on imports. Under the plan, which is expected to be discussed by the cabinet this week before being submitted to […] Read more

Barley south of Ethelton, Sask. on Aug. 3, 2017. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: For barley acres, seeding delays will tell tale

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — After a slight delay to the start of seeding in southern Alberta, producers are out in the fields and it doesn’t yet look like they have seeded more shorter-season acres, such as in feed barley. “Southern Alberta is a little bit later than normal (for starting seeding). But most areas, they’re kind […] Read more


A view from Alberta Highway 36 north of the Oldman River on April 14. While some traffic has been rerouted, flooding in southern Alberta hasn’t yet had a major impact on feed delivery, CorNine Commodities reports. (Photo courtesy Taber RCMP)

Feed weekly outlook: Prairie grains continue strong rally

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — The rally on which southern Alberta feed grain prices have been riding since the start of the year continued this week. “Right now (we’re seeing) some of the best prices on barley for farmers that have been seen in Alberta for a while,” said Joshua Boyko of CorNine Commodities in Lacombe. According […] Read more

If you could convince wheat or barley to form nodules like these, you might be able to skip your annual nitrogen purchase.

The ‘Holy Grail’ in cereal technology

Can wheat and barley really be taught to act like pulses, and produce their own fertilizer?

Reading Time: 5 minutes A new research project funded by the Alberta Wheat Commission and the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission will try to answer a question that has bedevilled plant scientists for years: can cereal crops be made to fix their own nitrogen the way legumes do? The AWC is spending $100,000 to have Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientists […] Read more





(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley prices rising for northern Alberta feedlots

Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — While feed barley prices are holding steady in the Lethbridge area, further north around Edmonton, prices are starting to climb. “We’re starting to see already just difficulty with loading here and there and buyers getting caught off-guard with not getting barley coming in when they needed it to happen. And that’s spurring […] Read more