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Barley

University of Alberta researcher Ehsan Feizollahi helped test the use of cold plasma to decontaminate grains.
Cereals, Crops, Features

Plasma shows promise against fusarium-formed toxins

The fourth state of matter could someday be put to work at a malt house or feedlot near you

By
Researchers at the University of Alberta are harnessing a high-tech concept to decontaminate grain. They’re using cold plasma, which is created by electrical discharge in a low-pressure gas. One of the most common uses is in fluorescent lighting, which creates light with little heat. Cold plasma is the fourth state of matter, alongside solid, liquid […] Read more
This map from PrairieFHB.ca shows the FHB risk level for the CPSR wheat variety AAC Penhold, as of May 15. The higher-altitude Prairie-wide map was pretty green (low risk) so we’ve zoomed in here on the Medicine Hat and Lethbridge area of southern Alberta. Yellow denotes “moderate” risk; red denotes “high” risk, while black (not shown) would denote “very high.”
Cereals, Cereals Production Guide, Crops

Maps now mark the spots for fusarium risk

Prairie-wide, variety-specific FHB risk maps now available online

By
Wheat, barley and durum growers in all three Prairie provinces can now check online whether fusarium head blight may be coming soon to a field near them. We’ve written before in these pages about the development and expected launch of new Prairie-wide fusarium head blight (FHB) risk maps — which have now gone live online […] Read more
Photo: Kelsey Pangborn/iStock/Getty Images
Markets

Feed Grain Weekly: A bearish market, especially in southern Alberta

Sufficient supplies of domestic barley and wheat along with the ongoing influx of corn from United States, have continued to keep a lid on feed grain prices on the Canadian Prairies. That’s especially so in southern Alberta, according to Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge.
File photo of grain bins in Saskatchewan. (Chinaface/iStock/Getty Images)
Markets

Most Canadian grain stocks tighter than a year ago

For many of Canada’s major crops, their holdings came in lower than a year ago, as Statistics Canada released its stocks of principal field crops as of March 31 report. There were declines in all wheat, durum, oats, corn, lentils and peas, but there were increases for barley and canola while soybeans were relatively steady.
Fed cattle are still at high prices despite a recent pullback.
Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Markets

Cattle market works to ration demand

Cattle prices are expected to reach historic highs this summer, then drop

By
During the first half of April, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a live basis at $240 per hundredweight delivered, up $8/cwt from a month earlier. Market-ready fed cattle supplies in Alberta and Saskatchewan are tightening, causing the fed cattle basis to strengthen. While the Canadian domestic slaughter is running slightly below year-over-year levels, […] Read more
Ergot is best recognized in the field as black or dark purple sclerotia sticking out of a floret.
Columns, Crops, Practical Tips

How a worldwide destructive cereal disease problem was solved in Alberta

In the story of ergot in wheat, barley and oats, the answer was simply 'copper'

By
When I was first hired by Alberta Agriculture as a diagnostic plant pathologist, I was told I would be primarily responsible for barley, oat, wheat and canola diseases. I was also asked to head up the provincial control program for bacterial ring rot of potato (BRR). The BRR program, run in partnership with the federal […] Read more
A year-over-year decrease in Q1 feeder cattle placements in both Canada and the U.S. is expected to lead to tighter market-ready supplies during the summer.
Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Markets

Expect stronger cattle markets for third quarter

A surprise reduction in beef production could mean higher prices

By
During the second week of March, Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a dressed basis in the range of $378-$380 per hundredweight (cwt) delivered. Prices f.o.b. (free on board) the feedlot in southern Alberta were quoted from $225 to $226/cwt. The market has been consolidating over the past month, as market-ready fed cattle supplies […] Read more

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