Reading Time: 4 minutes As harvest continued late into this fall, Prairie grain buyers continued to sort out what they would pay for this year’s crop. “Currently, grain company discounts and premiums for grade and protein are variable and changing almost daily as they try to determine what they can pay for these grains, what they will be able […] Read more
What to expect from grain companies premiums and discounts
Prices for different grades and protein levels are likely to vary by region throughout the crop year
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
Do-it-yourself plant breeding
Jim Dyck’s new oat varieties have been a decade in the making, but his hard work is about to pay off
Reading Time: 3 minutes If there are any oat producers who haven’t heard of Jim Dyck, that’s soon going to change. Jim and his wife Laura-Lee, who farm near Saskatoon, are the owners of Oat Advantage, one of few private plant breeding businesses in Western Canada. This spring, their first registered oat varieties, ORe3541M and ORe3542M, will be marketed […] Read more
Growing quality oats
Recommendations for oat agronomy from the new POGA Oat Growers Manual and research across Western Canada
Reading Time: 6 minutes Soil and rotation Oats grow best in black and grey wooded soil zones that have higher moisture, but can grow on sandy loam to heavy clay soils as long as they have good drainage. To reduce disease pressure and optimize yields, oats should not be grown after cereals. The best rotational crops include canola, hay, […] Read more
The Catch-22 of oat production
Tests in central Alberta yield some useful information on N rates and the effectiveness of plant growth regulators
Reading Time: 4 minutes Linda Hall has a soft spot for the humble oat, mainly because she doesn’t think it’s really all that humble. “Milling oats are a high-value crop,” Hall says. “We’re seeing companies like Richardson buying up oat milling capacity, so the markets are there if we can grow the right kind of oat.” It all depends […] Read more
New in spring cereals
They may not be large-acre crops, but their growers are dedicated
Reading Time: 3 minutes Production of spring wheat, oats and barley follows some rather rigid realities from one year to the next. It’s true that spring cereals are a tougher sell across most of Eastern Canada; there are more acres of soybeans or corn than there are of spring cereals combined. Yet it’s also a fact that those who […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Farmers are reducing weed seed return after cereal harvest
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 3 minutes I was driving down a long country road and noticed two large fields where winter wheat had been harvested almost eight weeks earlier. Each had a beautiful thick canopy of oats. Figure 1 (at top). An oat cover crop planted almost eight weeks ago following winter wheat harvest. That same day, when I came across […] Read more
Pest Patrol: Are there any new insect pests that we should be alert for?
#PestPatrol with Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA
Reading Time: 2 minutes The following information was provided by Tracey Baute, field crop entomologist, OMAFRA. Cereal leaf beetles feed on wheat, oat, corn, forages and grassy weeds. Spring plantings are most attractive, particularly late plantings, though some winter wheat can be infested in the spring. Both adults and larvae cause damage by chewing long strips of tissue between […] Read more
New in spring cereal crop varieties
Developments in the public breeding sector are generating excitement in spring cereals
Reading Time: 2 minutes The world of spring cereals may never be the same in Eastern Canada, especially in the next few years. In the past 12 months, two new positions have been filled within the public breeding sector, with new breaders at the University of Guelph and at Agriculture and Agri-Food’s Eastern Cereal and Oilseed Research Centre (AAFC-ECORC) […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
