CropSphere Archives

A barley crop south of Ethelton, Sask. on July 30, 2019. (Dave Bedard photo)

Feed weekly outlook: Barley market’s eye on exports, corn prices

By Phil Franz-Warkentin, GFM Network News January 15, 2021

MarketsFarm — Strong export demand for Canadian barley and rising corn prices in the U.S. are expected to continue to keep feed prices well supported in Western Canada. “Feed grains are being squeezed by lower imports of U.S. corn into Western Canada,” analyst Chuck Penner of Leftfield Commodity Research said in a presentation Tuesday for […] Read more

News

The show must go on — at least in part

Live agricultural main events have been cancelled, but check out these virtual events

By Lee Hart November 23, 2020

Even as some of the major crop and livestock trade shows and conferences have decided to cancel their full events in late 2020 and into early 2021, that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some virtual or online activities. Canadian Western Agribition (CWA) made the tough decision last summer to cancel its 50th anniversary show in […] Read more

Consumers are paying closer attention to what they eat.

News

Are you what you eat?

Professor in food distribution and policy says food choices are getting more complicated

By Leeann Minogue March 6, 2020

At CropSphere in Saskatoon in January, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from the University of Dalhousie talked about food trends at a keynote presentation. “The three-meal institution is dying,” he said. While he does know that people still buy cookbooks, Charlebois sees no signs that people are cooking. However, people are paying more attention to what they […] Read more

Livestock

Protectionism game comes with raised economic stakes: Frum

By Lisa Guenther, GFM Network News January 11, 2017

As U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration day approaches, the business world is pondering how the new administration might affect the world economy. Trump’s pride in his unpredictability is troubling, given he’s the president-elect, said David Frum, political commentator, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, and a senior editor for Washington-based magazine The Atlantic. However, […] Read more

Crops, Features

Studying soil responses to sulphur

U of S researchers look at responses to sulphur fertilizer in different soil zones

By Lisa Guenther February 12, 2016

Will farmers see a yield bump from sulphur, given that most soils aren’t severely depleted? How tolerant are crops to sulphur fertilizer in the seed-row? How long does it take for plants to use sulphur? Those were a few of the questions Dr. Jeff Schoenau, University of Saskatchewan soil scientist, set out to answer at […] Read more

Fusarium symptoms: The seed on the left is healthy; the seed on the right is infected with the fungal disease.

Cereals

Resisting fusarium head blight

Plant breeders are making progress in developing wheat  varieties that are resistant, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint

By Lisa Guenther March 16, 2015

There’s been a lot of effort put into breeding fusarium-resistant varieties, Dr. Anita Brûlé-Babel told CropSphere delegates in Saskatoon in January. But developing cereal varieties resistant to fusarium head blight (FHB) is more like a marathon than a sprint. “There’s been a lot of breeding challenges. And I know a lot of farmers have been […] Read more

Quorum’s latest report says that during the first nine months of the 2013-14 crop year, vessels waited an average of 19.1 days in port at Vancouver.

Crops, News

Vessels kept waiting at port

Port Metro Vancouver is on track to break movement records, despite supply chain problems

By Lisa Guenther March 2, 2015

Mark Hemmes is cautiously optimistic about grain transportation this year, he told CropSphere delegates in Saskatoon in January. The transportation system has set records for grain volumes moved, he said, and generally things are back in balance. But vessel line-ups at port are still a concern, he said, especially in Vancouver. “They’re running out of anchorage […] Read more

Cereals, Features

Ten things to know about grain contracts

Cheryl Mayer explains 10 steps to better understanding and profiting from your grain contracts

By Leeann Minogue February 20, 2015

In a 2013 study, Jared Carlberg, a professor at the University of Manitoba, found that only 17 per cent of farmers read their entire grain contracts. This matters. How can we know whether or not we’re getting a good deal if we don’t know the details in the documents we’re signing? At a session at […] Read more

Crops, News

Reviewing the CTA

The Canada Transportation Act is under review. Prairie farm associations  are sending their views about grain transportation to the review panel

By Lisa Guenther February 17, 2015

The Canada Transportation Act (CTA) Review “is a critical moment in time,” Robynne Anderson told delegates at Saskatoon’s CropSphere in mid-January. Anderson was speaking for the Prairie Oat Growers Association (POGA). It’s also a chance to create a more fair, equitable and transparent system, said Anderson, founder of Emerging Ag, an issues management and communications […] Read more

Alberta crop conditions improve: report

U.S. grains: Corn sets contract lows on expectations for big US crop

U.S. livestock: Cattle strength continues

GFM Network News