(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Drier conditions will influence feeder market

The feeder market was hard to define this week. The quality of yearlings was quite variable. Fleshier types were heavily discounted while quality packages were unchanged from seven days earlier. Calf prices were mostly unchanged; however, values were down $4-$6 in drier pockets of southern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Southern Alberta barley prices were quoted […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Stronger fed cattle prices underpin feeder complex

Limited feed and forage hinder further upside

Alberta packers were buying fed cattle on a dressed basis in the range of $265-$270 delivered this past week, up $3-$5 from seven days earlier. Live prices were quoted at $159-$162 delivered using a 60 per cent grading. If the feedlot operator booked their feed grains earlier in winter, live prices are $2-$3 above breakeven […] Read more


Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Drought Monitor map for the Prairie provinces as of April 30, 2021. (AAFC)

‘Extreme drought’ expands in Prairies

Southern Manitoba, southeastern Saskatchewan parched

MarketsFarm — The newly released map from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Drought Monitor (CDM) shows the Prairies’ ongoing drought getting worse. According to AAFC’s nationwide map released on Friday, southwestern Manitoba, parts of southern Saskatchewan and the southeast corner of Alberta are under CDM’s classification of Extreme (D3) drought as of April 30. Communities […] Read more



An eight-inch-wide strip of tillage in a field with heavy corn residue.

Several benefits come with an eight-inch-wide strip of tillage

Western Canadian row crop farmers Dean Toews in southern Manitoba and John Kolk in southern Alberta have different levels of experience with strip tillage, but both see the value of working up these eight-inch-wide strips of soil in their fields with a range of production and conservation benefits. Toews, who is part of the family […] Read more



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder cattle divorce from futures’ direction

Compared to last week, western Canadian feeder cattle prices were relatively unchanged. Higher-quality yearlings and calves were steady to $4 higher in Alberta and Saskatchewan; in Manitoba, yearlings traded $2-$4 lower while calves were $3-$5 higher. Domestic cattle markets appeared to divorce from feeder and live cattle futures. June live cattle futures finished the week […] Read more

(Kevin_LS/iStock/Getty Images)

Rural, remote crime targeted in Tory MP’s bill

Bill would consider crimes' settings during sentencing

An Alberta Conservative MP is trying to tackle rural crime by introducing a law that would punish more severely those accused of targeting remote, and vulnerable, people or property. Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins introduced his private member’s bill for first reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday. “Rural Canadians too often don’t feel […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Feed weekly outlook: Prices taper off ahead of report

Feedlots 'not eating as much grain'

MarketsFarm — While prices for feed wheat and feed barley in Western Canada remain substantially higher than one year ago, the past month has seen slight declines. As of Wednesday, high-delivered bids for feed wheat were at least $7.25 per bushel, more than $1.50 higher than last year according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. However, over […] Read more

Screenshot from an Alberta Agriculture video profiling Innisfail-based pulse and grain handler W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions. (Alberta Agriculture and Forestry via YouTube)

CGC suspends W.A. Grain’s licences to month-end

The firm, with facilities in Saskatchewan and Alberta, can't buy or sell grain in the interim

Licences for Prairie grain and pulse handler W.A. Grain and Pulse Solutions and its primary elevators in Alberta and Saskatchewan have been suspended by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC). The suspensions took effect at 12:01 p.m. Tuesday, a CGC official said in an interview. “This means for a limited period of time (until April 30) […] Read more