(Geralyn Wichers photo)

Klassen: Lower beef production forecasts support feeder complex

Improving feedlot margins contributed to the stronger feeder market. Alberta packers were buying finished cattle on a dressed basis at $500/cwt delivered which was fresh record high. Using a 60 per cent grading, this equates to a live price of $300/cwt. Feedlot breakeven pen closeouts are in the range of $260-$270/cwt. Feedlots are anxious to reload and larger groups of quality packages are limited at this time of year.






Proven Seed silage corn plot

Corn’s amazing nature

Practical Research: The fusarium we see in small cereal grains is the anamorph of the pink mould seen in corn

Consider that if you grow corn after wheat or vice versa and have a wet summer or fall, be prepared for possible outbreaks of pink mould/fusarium head blight in either crop in such a rotation.




alfalfa in manitoba's interlake region

Managing diseases in alfalfa

From seedling issues to stand die-off, understanding the timing and symptoms of alfalfa diseases can help protect yield

Understanding the multiple potential disease pressures on your alfalfa stand can help you improve its yield.


Photo: Geralyn Wichers

Klassen: Feedlot operators become cautious on purchases

For the week ending May 10, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded steady to $5 higher on average. Quality packages of lighter calves were priced $10-$15 above week ago levels. Many auction barns are only holding sales every two or three weeks at this time of year with limited numbers on offer. This made the market hard to define in certain weight categories.

fusarium infected wheat head

Fungicide, glyphosate don’t hurt your hard red wheat quality

In terms of grain quality, this University of Manitoba-led research finds weather and variety matter most

The results of this study may not seem all that surprising: everyone expected weather and genotype to be the most impactful factors on wheat quality. But this research hadn’t been done before, so it offers up the good news that fungicides and glyphosate aren’t making things worse.