An aerial view of flooded farmland near Rosenort, Man., about 50 km south of Winnipeg, on May 6, 2022. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Allan Dawson)

Feed weekly outlook: Market watching new-crop weather

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — With excessive moisture in the eastern Prairies and persistent drought in southern Alberta, uncertainty over new-crop grain production is keeping some caution in the feed market. The spot market is relatively steady as the market waits for a better picture on this year’s growing conditions. “A lot of the feedlots have all the […] Read more


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StatsCan reports sharp decline in field crop stocks

Stocks tighter than most traders had estimated

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada’s report on the country’s principal field crop stocks, released Friday, reflects an ever-tightening supply brought on by last year’s drought. With the exception of corn and soybeans, all of the crops listed suffered a supply decline of at least 10 per cent compared to the year before, as of March 31. […] Read more

Standing corn north of St. Adolphe, Man. on Sept. 19, 2021. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Corn trading higher than barley

Seeding begins in Alberta

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Imported corn from the U.S. is still the grain of choice for feedlots in southern Alberta, despite the fact feed barley is at a slightly lower price right now. Corn traded on Wednesday at around $480 per tonne ($12.19 per bushel) in Lethbridge, said Jim Beusekom, president of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feedlot demand up prior to seasonal rally

Market for calves 'boiling hot' in Manitoba

Reading Time: 2 minutes For the week ending April 30, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were quite variable. Yearlings traded $8 lower as much as $5 higher. Severe discounts were noted on fleshier cattle; some auction barns reported the bulk of cattle over 800 pounds were medium to heavier flesh. Deferred live cattle futures were under pressure but the […] Read more

The USDA building in Washington, D.C. (Art Wager/iStock/Getty Images)

USDA attache predicts large 2022-23 grain crops for Canada

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canada is expected to see a 30 per cent increase in grain production in 2022-23, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service post in Ottawa. Expectations for improved yields for Prairie grain crops after the 2021-22 drought accounted for much of the projected increase, although USDA also cautioned […] Read more


(FIle photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Seeding on time in southern Alberta

Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — As southern Alberta still reels from the effects of last summer’s drought, one trader expects spring seeding for feed grains to be on time. “I think it should be on schedule this year,” said Erin Harakal, trade manager for Agfinity Inc. at Stony Plain, Alta. Planting has already started in some places around […] Read more

Yuri, a Ukrainian farmer, wears his body armour while preparing to work in a field on April 26, 2022 in the country’s southern Zaporizhzhia region. (Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

Ukrainian farmers don bulletproof vests to plough frontline fields

Reading Time: 2 minutes Zaporizhzhia | Reuters — Ukrainian farmers in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, which borders the frontline of the military conflict with Russia, are now wearing body armour to plough their fields. A week after the war started, grad rockets — bombs fired via a truck-mounted multiple-launch system — began falling right next door to the […] Read more


(Greg Berg photo)

StatsCan predicts more Canadian wheat acres, less canola in 2022

Lentil, corn, soy acres are also expected up from 2021, barley down

Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Canada’s farmers intend to seed more acres to wheat and less to canola in 2022, according to the first survey-based estimates from Statistics Canada for the upcoming crop year released Tuesday. Canola area is forecast at 20.9 million acres by the government agency, which would be down by seven per cent from the […] Read more

Calves are being sold sooner than expected while cow culling rates are higher than normal.  Photo: Thinkstock

Klassen: Adverse weather tempers feeder cattle market

Reading Time: 2 minutes Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded $3-$4 on either side of unchanged. Southern Alberta experienced severe wind and dust storms last week which softened buying interest from a large portion of feedlot operators. At the same time, grass conditions are quite variable across the Prairies despite the recent precipitation. Cooler temperatures […] Read more