Ag News

Alberta Grains held its Annual General Meeting yesterday as part of the CrossRoads Crop Conference in Edmonton.

Alberta Grains was formed with the amalgamation of Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley in August 2023.

The new group formally electing its inaugural board of directors and delegates with Tara Sawyer serving as board chair, Scott Jespersen as first vice-chair, and Devin Hartzler as second vice-chair.... all three served on the interim board of directors.

Sawyer says she's honoured to serve as the first chair for Alberta Grains.

 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's latest drought assessment shows 70 per cent of Canada is classified as being abnormally dry or in moderate to exceptional drought,  including 81 per cent of the country’s agricultural landscape.

Alberta’s Drought Command Team will begin work with major water licence holders to strike water-sharing agreements to mitigate the risk of drought. 

The concern is that this winter, snowpack is below average, rivers are at record low levels and multiple reservoirs remain well below capacity.

The Drought Command Team in Alberta has been approved to commence negotiations with water license holders, aiming to establish water-sharing agreements as a proactive measure to alleviate the potential impacts of a drought.

The objective is to reach agreements within the Red Deer River, Bow River, and Old Man River basins. In the event of a severe drought, these agreements would involve significant users reducing their water consumption to support downstream needs.

Canada has signed on as a founding member of the Efficient Fertilizer Consortium (EFC). 

The EFC funds research to advance enhanced efficiency and novel fertilizer products  and practices that help farmers produce crops while reducing environmental impacts. 

Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay says Canada is committing approximately  $1.3 million to the EFC over the next four years.

Starting February 1, for the first time since 2001, Alberta’s Drought Command Team will begin negotiating with major water license holders throughout the province.

The negotiations are an attempt to strike water-sharing agreements in the Red Deer River, Bow River, and Old Man River to mitigate the risk of drought.

This winter, we have been experiencing below-average snow, and rivers are at record low levels.

Multiple reservoirs remain well below capacity.

Livestock producers in Alberta are getting another chance to apply to receive drought recovery support.

The 2023 Canada-Alberta Drought Livestock Assistance initiative has been expanded to include 23 new regions for eligibility and the deadline to apply has been extended.

Dr Michelle Hubbard a Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Swift Current is working with a team of researchers across the prairies to try and find out what's happening.

The emerging health issue first started showing up on chickpea plants in 2019 in the Assiniboia and Coronach areas.

The symptoms vary from leaf tip chlorosis and wilting all the way to complete plant death.

The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) is highlighting results of the agtech research & innovation projects it is supporting through its 2022 Open Competition and its Beef & Pork Primary Processing Automation & Robotics Program.

Darrell Petras, CAAIN’s CEO says through the program they look for Canadian companies that are developing technology that will provide significant value to Canadian farmers through artificial intelligence.

The 2023 Canada-Saskatchewan Feed Program and the Livestock Tax Deferral Program have been expanded to help more producers deal with the drought and dry conditions. 

Agriculture Minister David Marit says another ten RM's have been added and are eligible for up to $150 per head.

The additional RM's include the RM's of  Lumsden, Sherwood, Bratt’s Lake, Edenwold, Lajord, South Qu’Appelle and North Qu’Appelle, as well as the RM's of Britannia, Rosthern, and Bayne.

The cattle industry has seen strong prices in the feeder markets, with the lightweight feeder cattle bringing the largest average price increases compared to the previous week. 

According to the Manitoba Cattle Marketing Report, the 401 to 500 pound steers had an average price of $411.88 per cwt and $351.08 per cwt for the same weight of heifers. The biggest jump for feeder steers came in the 501 - 600 pound category for an average of $ 389.21 per cwt.

D1-D2 cows averaged $119.88 per cwt, while D3 cows averaged $103.20 per cwt