Barry Senft, shown here at the Ottawa Valley Farm Show in a 2017 GFO video, is stepping down in April as the organization’s chief executive. (GFO video screengrab via YouTube)

Grain Farmers of Ontario seeking new CEO

Ontario’s biggest ag commodity organization is on the hunt for a new CEO as its first chief prepares to exit. Barry Senft announced Tuesday he will step down as CEO of Grain Farmers of Ontario in April 2020, a post he’s held since the 2009 merger of the province’s corn, soy and wheat grower groups […] Read more

Klassen: Feeder market experiences mixed tone

Klassen: Feeder market experiences mixed tone

Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling prices traded $3-$5 on either side of unchanged. Auction market volumes are growing in Saskatchewan and Manitoba; however, central Alberta prices held a definite premium of $8-$10 over the eastern Prairie regions. Ontario orders are starting to surface in Manitoba but prices were out of reach with Alberta […] Read more





McKinnon: It’s silage season again

McKinnon: It’s silage season again

For many readers, as this article comes to press, silage season is either just starting or about to start. Putting up high-quality silage is both an art and a science. With this article I will review some of the key aspects of silage fermentation management that relate to putting up high-quality silage. Before we focus […] Read more

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

Feed weekly outlook: New-crop expectations weigh on bids

MarketsFarm — Feed grain bids in Western Canada have trended lower over the past month amid expectations for large barley production and concerns over possible downgrades to wheat quality. “We’ve definitely seen (barley prices) soften up quite a bit,” said grain broker Nelson Neumann of Agfinity at Stony Plain, Alta. New-crop feed barley is trading […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan confirms smaller canola crop

MarketsFarm — Statistics Canada’s first production estimates for the 2019-20 crop, released Wednesday, were generally in line with expectations, although upward revisions are likely in subsequent reports. The agency’s production of principal field crops report was “bang on with expectations across the board,” according to Ken Ball of PI Financial in Winnipeg. While both the […] Read more



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

Feed weekly outlook: Varying yields make for average crop

MarketsFarm — Feed grain crop yields are expected to be about average across the Prairies as harvest has kicked off. “It appears we’ll have somewhat of an average crop, with a bunch of high-yield areas and a bunch of low yield areas averaged together,” said Jim Beusekom, president of Market Place Commodities in Lethbridge. New-crop […] Read more

“All of our customers in feedlot alley are all thinking the same thing – that ‘prices will go down.’”  Photo: Thinkstock

Feed weekly outlook: Feed grain bids fall with rain

MarketsFarm – Improving crop conditions have weighed on Western Canadian feed barley prices over the past month as attention turns from the tight old crop supply situation to the upcoming harvest. “Prices are dropping every day it rains,” said Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities in Lethbridge, Alta. He said barley prices have come off by […] Read more