(Scott Bauer photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Avian flu circles back in Western Canada

All western provinces book new cases in commercial birds

A relatively quiet summer for highly pathogenic avian influenza in Canada has turned for the worse, with outbreaks on commercial poultry farms in all four western provinces in the past week alone. Cases of high-path avian flu in domestic birds in Canada confirmed and reported by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency since Aug. 31 include: […] Read more

(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Putin comments raise wheat bids

MarketsFarm — Comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin brought more uncertainty to Ukrainian wheat shipments, which in turn helped raise western Canadian wheat bids for the week ended Thursday. On Wednesday at an economic forum in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok, Putin said the Ukrainians were “cheating,” adding that grain shipments from the country […] Read more


Barley. (Doug Wilson photo courtesy ARS/USDA)

Feed weekly outlook: No effect seen on Alberta crops from hot, wet weather

Feed grain bids up on week in Alberta, Saskatchewan

MarketsFarm — Harvest activity in Alberta continues to progress despite wet weather during the past week, according to Mike Fleischhauer, trader for Eagle Commodities in Lethbridge. “We had some rain here about a week to 10 days ago. So, it puts some people in Alberta and Saskatchewan a little bit behind,” he said. “It’s been […] Read more



(Thinkstock photo)

Prairie cash wheat: Bids mixed headed into long weekend

MarketsFarm — Despite projections that Canada will have a large wheat harvest this year, Western Canadian wheat bids were mixed for the week ended Thursday, largely due to a weakening Canadian dollar. Statistics Canada (StatCan) on Monday released its satellite imagery-based July principal field crop production estimates, which projected a total wheat harvest of 34.6 […] Read more

Photo: File

Feed weekly outlook: Grain prices start moving upward

New-crop barley already en route to feedlots

MarketsFarm — Hot temperatures and a lack of precipitation in recent days are helping Alberta growers make significant progress, according to Lethbridge-based Market Place Commodities’ president Jim Beusekom. “In southern Alberta, (the harvest) is doing just fine,” he said. “We had some rain last week. Some (had) more, some less. Last week limited how much […] Read more


A sunflower crop north of St. Adolphe, Man. on Sept. 19, 2021. (Dave Bedard photo)

Manitoba’s sunflower crop smaller, better

Global supply, demand outlooks remain uncertain

MarketsFarm — If Canada’s 2022 sunflower seed harvest is to be the lowest in five years, you wouldn’t know it talking to producers of the crop. In its July satellite image-based principal field crops estimates released Monday, Statistics Canada projected sunflower seed production for the 2022-23 marketing year at 61,996 tonnes, 24.2 per cent lower […] Read more

(File photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Initial drought list ready for 2022 livestock tax deferrals

Much of Manitoba, southern Alberta designated for 2022

Many of the Prairie livestock producers forced by drought to make “difficult herd management decisions” in the 2022 income tax year are now eligible to defer the taxable income from those decisions. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Tuesday released the initial list of designated regions in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan where livestock tax deferral […] Read more


(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Klassen: Feeder markets digest StatCan data

Barley crop expected up 34 per cent on year

Compared to last week, western Canadian yearling markets traded steady to $2 higher. Yearling prices have strengthened by $8-$10 over the past four weeks. Calf values were relatively unchanged but the market was hard to define due to limited volumes. Alberta packers were buying on a dressed basis from $300 to $302 delivered, up $1-$2 […] Read more