Pea plants emerge in between stubble in a field. Dry peas are leading the way in emergence in Alberta at more than 96 per cent.  Photo: File

Seeding in Alberta nearly complete, with strong emergence

Spring planting in Alberta was virtually complete according to the province’s latest crop report. As of June 11, seeding in Alberta was a smidge under 100 per cent complete provincewide and on par with the five-year average. The Peace River Region ranked 100 per cent complete for its major crops, while the south, central, northeast […] Read more



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U.S. grains: Corn hits two-week high as US, global weather worries lift grains

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Board of Trade corn futures set a two-week high on Thursday on concerns about rising temperatures in the U.S. farm belt. Global weather worries also helped support grain markets, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture trimmed its outlook for world 2024-25 corn and wheat ending stocks in a monthly report on Wednesday. […] Read more

Ergot is best recognized in the field as black or dark purple sclerotia sticking out of a floret.

How the problem of ergot in cereals was solved in Alberta

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

Glacier FarmMedia – 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. The bacterial ring rot program, run in […] Read more





Photo: Thinkstock

U.S. grains: Wheat sags on uncertain demand outlook; corn firm, soy lower

Chicago | Reuters – U.S. wheat futures fell about 1.5 per cent on Wednesday as worries about global export demand and a year-on-year rise in U.S. inventories overshadowed support from a shrinking Russian wheat crop, analysts said. Corn futures firmed while soybeans declined after the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply/demand reports offered few market-moving surprises. Chicago Board […] Read more