The harvest in mid-September made for a pretty picture but the results from a trial of two biostimulants on durum grown on Bishop Farms didn’t produce any yield or quality differences. Erek Bishop said he wants to conduct further trials.

Search for the holy grail of N fertilizer continues

The jury is still out on products containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Real-world tests of nitrogen-fixing bacteria products conducted across the Prairies have shown limited promise, but farm groups aren’t throwing in the towel. “I’m not ready to close the book on these trials just yet,” said Laura Schmidt, a production specialist with Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers. In 2022, MPSG ran 10 trials with Envita, which uses naturally occurring bacteria to take

Oats. (Greg Berg photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain bids quietly drift lower

Oats still making their way into feedlots

MarketsFarm — Prices for feed barley and wheat in Western Canada drifted lower during the week ended Wednesday. Erin Harakal, trade manager for Agfinity Inc. at Stony Plain, Alta., said a relatively milder winter across the Prairies has resulted in less consumption of feed grains in feedlots. In turn, feedlots are not purchasing as much


Ukraine grain exports down 29.2 per cent in 2022/23

Ukraine grain exports in the 2022/23 season, which runs through to June, are down 29.2 per cent to 28.2 million tonnes so far, due to a smaller harvest and logistical difficulties caused by the Russian invasion, agriculture ministry data showed February 8. The volume included about 10.1 million tonnes of wheat, 16.2 million tonnes of

Think of weed control like boxing. It’s better over time to know the combinations that lead to wins, rather than hoping for a lucky knockout punch.

Weed control can’t count on knockout punch

The chemical control era is waning, so adoption of new combinations is very important

Herbicides have been the No. 1 weapon against weeds since the 1940s. They’ve been effective but the last few decades have shown that genetics are a more powerful force than chemistry. Weeds are gaining genetic resistance to herbicides faster than new chemistries can be developed. “In addition to all of these new cases we’re seeing,


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain stocks set tone for barley, wheat

Barley expected to go bullish in April, May

MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada’s (StatCan) grain stocks report issued earlier this week largely met trade expectations, according to Winnipeg-based independent trader Jerry Klassen. The survey-based report, which estimated the country’s grain stocks as of Dec. 31, was neutral for spring wheat, supportive of durum, and pointed toward barley being somewhat bullish come spring, he said.

An agricultural economist says two methods show promise for reducing nitrogen application while doing little to farmers’ bottom line.

N reductions possible without significant economic losses

Rotation and management key, but two studies suggest the possibilities

Reducing nitrogen use is key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but there are ways to do so without slashing profits, an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada researcher says. Mohammad Khakbazan is an agricultural economist based at the Brandon Research and Development Centre. He spoke during a Jan. 17 panel discussion at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon.


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prairie markets hold steady

U.S. corn imports keep lid on domestic grains

MarketsFarm — Feed grain markets in Western Canada have seen little change over the past few weeks. Feed barley bids across Western Canada have generally held steady over the past month, with the spot market topping out at $9.58 per bushel in Alberta, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire data. Prices in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are

Wheat being loaded onto a cargo ship in Vancouver in 2011. (File photo: Reuters/Ben Nelms)

China top destination for Canadian grains, oilseeds

CGC data points to key destinations

MarketsFarm — China is the top destination for Canadian grain and oilseed exports through the first five months of the 2022-23 marketing year, accounting for roughly a third of the total movement, according to the latest monthly report from the Canadian Grain Commission. Canada has exported 6.566 million tonnes of grains, oilseeds, and pulses to


Amy Nikkel, who owns Adagio Acres with her family, speaks at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon on Jan. 18.

The good, bad and ugly of value-added

Farmer and miller Amy Nikkel shares considerations for on-farm food processing

Amy Nikkel and her family took up farming, food-processing and grain milling “kind of all together,” she said. The first year, they grew a crop of gluten-free organic oats, cleaned them and tested products. The next year a flood kept them from planting oats on their Interlake farm. The third year, they grew another crop,

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley, wheat prices continue downward

Oats, canola meal also bound for feedlots

MarketsFarm — As colder temperatures descend onto the Prairies, buying activity for feed barley and wheat was just as frigid. “A lot of guys are fairly caught up with purchasing,” said Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities Inc. in Lethbridge. “You see the prices of wheat and barley start to trickle down a little bit. Corn’s