The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, built in Norway in 2008, is the world’s largest secure seed storage site. (Matthias Heyde photo courtesy Government of Norway via Flickr)

Syrian war spurs first withdrawal from doomsday seed vault

Oslo | Reuters –– Syria’s civil war has prompted the first withdrawal of seeds from a “doomsday” vault built in an Arctic mountainside to safeguard global food supplies, officials said Monday. The seeds, including samples of wheat, barley and grasses suited to dry regions, have been requested by researchers elsewhere in the Middle East to […] Read more

AB InBev’s operations include Alexander Keith’s maker, Halifax-based Oland Breweries, which became part of Labatt in 1971. (Keiths.ca)

Labatt owner AB InBev seeks US$275B tie-up with SABMiller

Brussels/London | Reuters — Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has approached rival SABMiller about a takeover that would form a colossus producing a third of the world’s beer. A merged group would have a market value of around US$275 billion (C$363 billion) at current prices, and would combine AB InBev’s dominance of Latin America […] Read more


(Rahr.com)

Malt barley prices strong despite ongoing harvest

CNS Canada — Commodity prices typically buckle under harvest pressure, but malt barley has been acting as the shining star of cash markets. Influencers within Canada and globally have contributed to the climb, according to one industry expert. Cash prices for delivered elevator malt barley range between $5.25 and $5.75 per bushel, according to Prairie […] Read more

(Doug Wilson photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Feed barley looking bearish

CNS Canada –– Seasonal harvest pressure is starting to weigh on feed grains in Western Canada, while quality downgrades to crops still on the field may put further pressure on values going forward. “There are quite a few bearish indicators out there,” said Kyle Sinclair, of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. For starters, early yield […] Read more



(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

Barley’s genome now two-thirds sequenced

A team led by scientists at the University of California, Riverside says it has reached a new milestone in its work on sequencing the barley genome. In a release Tuesday, the researchers said they have sequenced large portions of the genome that together contain nearly two-thirds of all barley genes. Because barley is a close relative […] Read more


(Canada Beef Inc. photo)

Short-term barley prices seen likely to downtrend

CNS Canada — Feed barley prices are moving slowly with hand-to-mouth buying as the crop moves into harvest, when already low prices will likely hit a downtrend. However, prices will likely recover into autumn, depending on how farmers choose to act, from where one market analyst sits. “If the farmers aren’t willing to sell at […] Read more

Feed grain update

I’ve received many inquiries regarding the feed grain outlook moving into the fall period. In the previous issue, I mentioned that corn and barley markets had potential to move higher if a minor yield problem materialized. Throughout May and June, a large portion of Alberta and Saskatchewan received less than 40 per cent of normal […] Read more


(Doug Wilson photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Malteurop parent to buy barley trader Interbrau

Paris | Reuters — French co-operative group Vivescia has entered into an agreement to buy German malting barley trader Interbrau GmbH from Swiss grain trading group Ameropa, the companies said Thursday. Founded in 1961, Interbrau specializes in international malting barley trading and logistics, and operates in Europe, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Canada. The acquisition […] Read more