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CWB tour reports durum doing better in South East Alberta

Posted by Flaman Agriculture Jul 22, 2015

Durum, the wheat used to make pasta, has fared better against dry conditions than other major crops in a pocket of southeastern Alberta, crop tour scouts noted on Wednesday.

Durum is typically planted in drier soils than spring wheat, but fields still looked surprisingly decent, given some of the driest conditions in decades on the Prairies.

Yields looked to fall slightly below average in the area, said Justin Daniels, director of commodity risk management at CWB Market Research Services.

“We haven’t seen a disaster yet in durum,” he said in drizzly conditions.

The tour organized by CWB Market Research is travelling through Thursday on three routes across the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Durum stood tall and carried large heads of kernels in most fields.

Quality of durum in Canada — the biggest exporter – may be more important than the crop’s size, given lower grades last year, said Courtney Boryski, a trader at U.S. commodity company Gavilon.

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