Tom Hewson admits while there is always room for improving agronomic practices, his track record for producing malt barley has been quite respectable. Hewson, who farms with family members at Langbank, in southeast Saskatchewan, says he has grown malting barley for many years. “I estimate on average about two-thirds of the years, about two-thirds of […] Read more
Barley
Tips for hitting malt barley grade
It’s pretty hard to argue with the experience of growers as well as researchers
Contracts a good idea with malt barley
Any farmers planning to grow barley for malting purposes, should try and line up contracts before they seed and know the barley specifications malting companies are looking for, says a grain procurement specialist. For most malting programs a high yielding, high quality barley with plump kernels, 13 per cent seed moisture, with a 95 per […] Read more
Ameropa to shut malting barley trading firm Interbrau
Hamburg | Reuters — Swiss-based grain trading group Ameropa AG said Thursday it will end its involvement in malting barley trading and close its Hamburg-based malting barley trading house Interbrau GmbH at the end of 2017. “This decision is mainly driven by the fact that the malting barley market did not develop as Ameropa had […] Read more
Feed market awaits influx of spring-threshed grains
CNS Canada — As spring slowly approaches, western Canadian feed dealers are warily eyeing the amount of grain that may be left over on Prairie fields. “There’s a bit of concern about how much spring-threshed grain we may see here in the next few weeks,” said Allan Pirness of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. “That’s […] Read more
Growing 180 bushels of barley
Barley 180 wants to know what it will take to top up Alberta barley yields
A trip to New Zealand inspired a quest in Alberta for higher barley yields. New Zealand farmers can produce barley crops topping 200 bushels per acre. Granted, New Zealand has some climatic advantages over Western Canada. But Steve Larocque, owner of Beyond Agronomy, saw no reason that Alberta barley growers couldn’t aim higher. Together with […] Read more
Recommended barley varieties for 2017
The Canadian Malt Barley Technical Centre has released its annual list of recommended barley seed varieties for the 2017 planting season. There are several two-row varieties on the CMBTC’s list (see table below), but only three recommended varieties of six-row barley. FP Genetics distributes pedigreed seed for two of these varieties, Legacy and Tradition. Canterra […] Read more
Feed wheat, barley surplus could last until summer
CNS Canada — Supplies of feed wheat and barley in Western Canada continue to compete for a home in Lethbridge’s feedlot alley. For the past few months markets have been grinding lower due to the large volumes of low-quality feed and other grains that are being unloaded by farmers. At least one industry expert believes […] Read more
Diary of a Les Henry barley crop
This 82 bu/ac malt barley crop near Dundurn, Sask., made malt. Hurrah!
This is the story of a barley crop on my farm near Dundurn this summer. August 30-31, 2015: Combined a 40 bushel/acre canola crop. September 20, 2015 Applied 1 litre/acre Glyphosate plus 2,4-D ester to get volunteer canola. September 24, 2015 Soil samples taken: Depths zero to six inches; six to 16 inches. Sixteen inches […] Read more
ADM sells stake in Canada Malting owner GrainCorp
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural commodities trader Archer Daniels Midland has sold its 19.9 per cent stake in GrainCorp to underwriters UBS, just three years after a failed bid to wholly acquire the Australian grain handler, ADM said Thursday. The sale to the Swiss bank was valued at A$387 million (C$382 million), or A$8.53 […] Read more
Plentiful feed supplies weigh on feed barley prices
CNS Canada — A steady stream of fusarium-damaged wheat is flooding Alberta feedlots these days, giving ranchers a variety of choices on what they can give to their animals — but also keeping feed barley prices in check. “That has definitely been heavy on the barley,” said Allan Pirness of Marketplace Commodities in Lethbridge. That […] Read more
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