Last year was the 1st time I planted my own garden. After years of reluctantly helping my mom weed a row or two or finding ways to keep myself “busy” when she planted and harvested her garden, I found out fast that having a successful garden is easier said than done! There are so many obstacles, decisions, and techniques. When to plant, when and how much fertilizer/compost to mix into your dirt, what to plant, where to plant each row so that they grow in the appropriate amount of sun or close to other plants which complement them.
According to a few articles I have browsed through, the growing season in Alberta is around 115 days (about 4 months). The general time from planting around May Long Weekend and harvesting in September. If you work a day-job, and have kids or hobbies, most of your day is already spent busy with other things. So, planting and maintaining a garden is a considerable time commitment if you want to yield a successful harvest and not wade through the weeds to get to your vegetables.
It is also advised annually to mix animal or plant matter/compost with your soil, along with diverse types of fertilizer to add nutrients. So, before you even plant your seeds, there is a decent amount of preparation to be done to your garden. When I planted my garden last year, I realized that some seeds must be started earlier, then planted in the garden as seedlings, where other seeds can be directly planted into the earth – who knew!? There are also suggestions on locations for each vegetable in relation to the amount of sunlight, or other vegetables you are planting.
Here I was thinking, you put the seeds in the ground and the rain would be enough water & sure I might have to weed a bit, but not THAT much. Wrong – it was good for the 1st three weeks, then there was too much rain, then I got a bit overrun with weeds, then not enough rain. How has everyone I know made it look so easy? It turns out gardening is a little more “hands-on” than I expected.
There is so much information out there, suggestions and techniques. But at the end of the day, I suppose if you want to get good at something, you must try. You must put in the work, and push through a few failures until you find out what works for you and what does not work. So, here is another garden season! After the thistle patch, I grew last year, at least I only have one direction to go – up.
Because Farming is Forever
Danielle Barnes
Market Report – Bryce Taylor
Good afternoon and hope you enjoy this week’s Agfinity Market Report. As of Tuesday afternoon, according to the CBC news, 86 wildfires are burning inside Alberta’s Forest protection areas with, with 24 classifieds as out of control. High winds have brought thick smoke from the wildfires blanketing communities including Edmonton and Calgary. Smoke pollution is spreading across Alberta and beyond. The weather is a common theme this spring in conversations as everyone in the Ag business seems to be speaking of very dry field conditions throughout most of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Wheat futures have been on a roller coaster ride as of late with the end of last week showing double digit losses ahead of the USDA’s report day then only bounce back at the beginning of this week with double digit gains. For graded #1 HRS spring at time of writing delivered prices of $11.00-11.20 are currently available. Feed wheat prices have stayed steady for the last few weeks at around $410-15 DLVD. Sources say that strength in the spring wheat market was due to the slow planting pace this year and dry conditions in Western Canada.
Canola has been showing some moderate losses and gains over the last couple of weeks but still showing no signs of which direction the market will take. The July futures contract remains steady. Canola bids around $17.00-17.20/BU Delivered are available for May-June through Central Alberta and Saskatchewan. Latest estimates suggest Canola stocks are tighter than expected, down from the 5-year average which is providing support for the current prices.
Barley continues to be one of the most stable commodities this past year and will remain that way with values still unchanged this week and showing no real change until Harvest. Current bids remain unchanged for May -June with bids available at $400-410/MT delivered Lethbridge. There currently is an uptick in demand for quick movement presenting good opportunities for producers ready to sell; however, many feedlots have indicated that they are in decent shape and covered into New Crop, some due to switching over to corn until Harvest. To New crop, we have already heard of some producers being overly cautious of contracting out new crop acreage due to the very dry seeding conditions and concern about how this will affect the harvest this year.
Quiet oat markets continue as growers steadily try and find homes for an oversupply in the bin. Opportunities with buyers are available to cover a short or trying to create an opportunity for a new sale. Indications we are seeing available from buyers currently for May – June-July are $300-310/MT delivered Lethbridge.
The Pea market overall remains unchanged as it has for the last month. #2 Yellow pea prices remain to be soft. Old crop #2 Green pea prices remain to be a fantastic opportunity with bids available at around $14.50/BU Delivered in Central Alberta. Not much is moving as growers are in the field heavily this week with priorities set on getting the crop in the ground.
Sellers Tip: Price indications for May-July are steady, but we hear of softening demand. If you are looking to move feed before harvest now may be the time to market and lock in some tonnage. Please call us today on 1-888-969-5552 to talk about marketing strategies.