Quality of the 2010 wheat and barley crops was higher on the eastern side of the prairies according to the director of weather and market analysis with the Canadian Wheat Board.

Bruce Burnett says many areas received twice the normal precipitation during harvest time in September. "That caused some of the mature wheat to start to downgrade, as well as barley and durum. We also had a frost in the middle of September. The western areas that had been delayed, we saw a lot of damage to crops due to the fact they weren't mature yet," he says.

"Generally speaking, most of the higher quality wheat is on the eastern side of the prairies," Burnett says. "On the barley side, we saw similar effects as well. The amount of selected barley is limited. We're going to see more of the crop falling into the lower grades, no matter what grain you're talking about."

The late harvest and wet conditions also mean the area seeded to winter wheat is smaller for the second consecutive year.

~ Tuesday, November 16, 2010 ~