(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prices continue to soften as April approaches

Seeding start in Alberta remains a question mark

MarketsFarm — Corn is still moving into feedlots in southern Alberta as it approaches not only the end of its contracts, but also the end of winter. “We’ve been seeing here in Lethbridge prices at $395-$400 per tonne ($10.03-$10.16 per bushel),” said Erin Harakal, trade manager at Agfinity Inc. at Stony Plain, Alta. “It seems

A cereal crop infected with fusarium head blight.

Nasties can also catch a ride on raw flour

Pancakes won’t turn you into a zombie as in HBO’s ‘The Last of Us,’ but fungi in flour have been making people sick for a long time

In the HBO series “The Last of Us,” named after the popular video game of the same name, the flour supplies of the world are contaminated with a fungus called cordyceps. When people eat pancakes or other foods made with that flour, the fungi grow inside their bodies and turn them into zombies. As a


Drought-resistant wheat may appeal to farmers in that region, where crops such as corn and soybeans have recently faced water stress.

Brazil approves cultivation of GM wheat

Only Argentina had approved a biotech wheat until now

Brazil has become the second country in the world, after Argentina, to approve the cultivation of genetically modified wheat, following a decision by the nation’s biosecurity agency CTNbio. The approval request was made by plant genetics company Tropical Melhoramento e Genetica, a partner in Brazil of Argentina’s Bioceres, which has developed a variety of drought-resistant

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed grain weekly: Prices slip back on good supplies

Demand for corn from Manitoba, U.S. wanes

MarketsFarm — There are sufficient supplies of feed barley, wheat and corn across the Prairies, according to Evan Peterson, trader with JGL Commodities. In turn, that’s putting pressure on prices. Peterson said a shortage of trucks and truck drivers last summer and fall led buyers to acquire as much feed as possible to get through


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

Sheila elder (third from right) visits a flour mill in Ecuador with members of the Latin America new crop mission. The mill uses almost exclusively Canadian wheat, Elder said.

Supply, sustainability top of mind for Canada’s wheat customers

Cereals Canada’s new crop missions found millers and bakers eager to ensure their supply of wheat amid global food insecurity

Latin American millers and bakers were keen to learn about Canadian farmers’ sustainability practices, says a Manitoba farmer recently returned from a Cereals Canada new crop mission. “There was a lot that we just weren’t letting people know that we actually do,” said Sheila Elder, a farmer from Wawanesa. Elder participated in Cereals Canada’s crop


(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

(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


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prices slip during quiet January

Shortages of trucks, drivers still trouble cattle sector

MarketsFarm — With January being a quiet time there’s isn’t a whole lot of direction for feed grains, according to Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. Prices for feed barley and wheat have been slowing slipping, he said — especially with feedlots not having to buy and farmers not needing to sell —

In a refrigerated greenhouse that mimics winter, individually tagged hybrid wheat sprouts grow in 7C temperatures at the Syngenta research farm near Junction City, Kansas.

The dawn of hybrid wheat

U.S. farmers gain access to new technology as war, climate threaten global food supplies

Global seed maker Syngenta plans to release a new type of wheat developed with complex cross-breeding techniques in the United States next year, beating out rival companies that are also trying to develop higher yielding wheat at a time of diminishing global grain supplies. The hybrid wheat, which combines positive traits from two parent plants,