Potatoes naturally produce a defence compound called total glycoalkaloids (TGA) which help protect the plant from environmental threats.

The TGA levels recommended by Health Canada are about 200 milligrams per kilogram, said Diksha Singla, a post-doctoral research fellow with the Advanced Post-harvest Technology Centre within Lethbridge Polytechnic’s Centre for Applied Research.

WHY IT MATTERS: High levels of total glycoalkaloids can be harmful to human health.

“If the TGA levels in the potatoes exceed this level, they will be harmful. If they are exposed to light or we see improper storage, those can cause health risks. It’s important to monitor the level of TGAs for food safety,” she said.

Her project was mostly funded by Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR).

READ MORE: Ontario potato yields down slightly, but quality is high

The main aim was to analyze the levels of TGAs in potatoes without destroying them, so producers would be able to detect the amount before sending potatoes to market.

The experiment

To better understand and detect TGA levels, Singla and her team stored more than 200 Yukon Gold potatoes under continuous light for up to 14 days, simulating improper storage conditions. TGA levels were measured with high-performance liquid chromatography, a traditional method that is time-consuming and destructive.

The team then used short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging to scan each potato and develop a predictive model to estimate the TGA levels without damaging the potatoes.

The model could predict the TGA level with 72 per cent accuracy.

READ MORE: Strong 2025 potato harvest meets soft demand due to shifting consumer trends

“This is a very promising result, especially for an early-stage and non-disruptive screening method. But as the technology advances, our aim is to improve the accuracy,” said Singla.

The technology offers a faster way to screen potatoes and identify potential risks earlier. The potatoes do not need to be cut open, so waste is reduced.

For farmers, these findings will help protect crop value. For consumers, the technology will help ensure food safety by ensuring only high-quality potatoes reach the market.

Unpredicted findings and storage of potatoes

The study also produced some unexpected findings. In some cases, TGA levels peaked after seven days of light exposure rather than 14. The team thought prolonged exposure to light may trigger shifts in potato integrity, from cellular aging to severe drying.

Singla said these could also be called metabolic shifts in the structure of the potatoes.

The best way to store potatoes is in cool and dark places. Potatoes should always be stored in a paper bag, or a plastic bag with holes in it that allows the potatoes to breathe.

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Jim Beusekom, president of Market Place Commodities located in the southern Alberta city, said some growers have already finished their plantings and estimated that 60 per cent of the fields have already been seeded. This is despite municipalities and irrigation districts in southern Alberta agreeing last month to reduce water use if drought conditions develop this spring or summer.

Beusekom mentioned that the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District (LNID) and the South Saskatchewan River Irrigation District in Saskatchewan are currently rationing water.

“That led to farmers making some changes to where they’re going to allocate their water or perhaps if they’re going to plant a different field,” he said, adding that dry land received normal amounts of moisture in April at around the equivalent of 80 millimetres in Lethbridge and area.

While most feedlots are already covered for the spring and summer, barley prices have dipped lower than those for corn, according to Beusekom. While corn usage is still high, barley is looking more favourable for feedlots while selling at C$290 per tonne (C$6.31 per bushel), compared to C$305/tonne (C$7.75/bu.).

Meanwhile, prices for feed wheat have jumped over the past few weeks. Previously at C$280 to C$290/tonne (C$7.62 to C$7.89/bu.), Beusekom said they are now up to C$335/tonne (C$9.12/bu.).

“It’s a bit of a short squeeze with spring seeding. Maybe a bit of export demand and the Canadian dollar was pretty weak,” he explained. “It feels like (the rally) is over already, but I would say to farmers if you have any wheat of any class available for sale, take advantage of the full rally and sell it.”

Prices will depend on what types of weather the Prairies will see over the next three months, according to Beusekom.

“We can tune in to what the weather’s doing to some extent. That will give a sense of direction as to where prices are going to go,” he said. “We’ll certainly have to see how it goes and what happens.”

Delivered bids for feed barley in Alberta ranged from C$4.75 to C$6.64/bu., an 11-cent increase from last month, according to Prairie Ag Hotwire. In Saskatchewan, the range was between C$5.10 to C$5.75/bu., up 25 cents, while in Manitoba, bids were steady from the month before at C$4.97 to C$5/bu.

For feed wheat in Alberta, prices ranged from C$6.60 to C$9/bu., up 56 cents from one month earlier. Saskatchewan had the same range as Alberta’s while increasing 88 cents from last month. A high-delivered bid of C$7.69 in Manitoba was reported, up 58 cents.

—Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man. 

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However, there is still some volatility in feed grain prices, according to one Lethbridge-based trader.

“I think most (of the increase) was (due to) demand, but as of (Wednesday), we’ve got three unit trains of corn coming in on Nov. 1 into Lethbridge and obviously the market here in southern Alberta dropped $7 (per tonne) for barley and $5/tonne for wheat,” Eagle Commodities trader Mike Fleischhauer said.

“For sure, feed wheat and feed barley are definitely up, but they did a little downtrend (on Wednesday)… Who knows what’s going to happen now.”

Fleischhauer added that the majority of grain going to feedlots is barley, with most of the remainder being wheat. “But when you see most of these feedlots go to corn, it softens the (prices) up for sure,” he said.

The spot price for corn in Lethbridge ranges around $440-$450/tonne, equal to $11.18-$11.43 per bushel, he said.

“I think (feed grain prices) are going to stay very consistent (next week). I don’t think they’re going to climb as people go and buy more corn. You’re starting to see the gap close between barley and corn.”

According to Prairie Ag Hotwire, the high-delivered bid for Alberta feed barley was $9.75/bu., $1.15 higher than last month and 61 cents higher than last year. For feed wheat in the province, the high-delivered bid was $12.66/bu., up $1.36 from the month before and up $1.22 from the year before.

In Saskatchewan, the high-delivered bid for feed barley was $6.75/bu., up 25 cents from last month but down $1.40 from last year. For Saskatchewan feed wheat, it was $11.75/bu., $1.75 higher than last month and $1.50 higher than last year.

For Manitoba feed barley, the high-delivered bid was $7.25/bu., up 50 cents from last month but down $1 from last year. As for feed wheat in Manitoba, the high-delivered bid was $11.03/bu., $1.37 higher than last month and $1.22 higher than last year.

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

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The 140-odd workers, represented by United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401, voted Feb. 1-2 on a new proposal from the company after voting 79 per cent in December to reject a previous offer.

The revised offer, which tacks a sixth year onto the deal, was accepted by a vote of 65 per cent, UFCW lead negotiator Chris O’Halloran said in a release.

The workers’ previous contract expired at the end of August 2019; the new six-year deal is retroactive to Sept. 1 that year and runs through to the end of September 2024.

“A 65 per cent acceptance shows that our members thought carefully about what was on the table,” O’Halloran said in UFCW’s release. It “says to the company that we were able to get it done this time, but they are on notice that they need to better right off the bat next time.”

The union’s bargaining committee had recommended in late January that workers vote in favour of the revised deal — and noted that if the second deal were to be rejected, the union would start the process to hold a strike vote.

The new offer moved money from the later years of the previous offer, providing for increases of 2.25 per cent in the first year, 2.75 per cent in the second year, three per cent in the third and 2.5 per cent in each of the following three years. The new deal also provided for increased pension contributions from the company.

Supplying customers in Canada and the U.S. as well as other export markets, Winnipeg-based Richardson’s Lethbridge plant has capacity to handle up to 700,000 tonnes of canola per year, following a $120 million expansion in 2017.

The Lethbridge plant includes a packaging facility at which canola oil is bottled and margarine and shortening are packaged. Its products are sold under the Canola Harvest and Wesson brands and to private-label and foodservice customers.

Richardson’s other oilseed facilities include its canola crush and refining plant at Yorkton, Sask. and its margarine plant at Oakville, Ont. –– Glacier FarmMedia Network

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United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401 announced Tuesday (Jan. 25) its negotiating committee “fully endorses” the new offer after the company’s Richardson Oilseed division “enhanced its offer of settlement.”

The workers’ previous contract expired at the end of August 2019; the union and company had agreed during earlier talks to seek a five-year contract taking it through to Aug. 31, 2024.

The next employee vote — to be held in person Feb. 1 at the Holiday Inn Express Lethbridge Southeast, and online on Feb. 2 — will be the second after workers voted 79 per cent to reject a previous proposal before Christmas.

Despite the union negotiators’ endorsement, UFCW said Tuesday, if the new offer is rejected, “we will proceed with the next steps towards a strike vote.”

The new offer, retroactive to September 2019, would see workers get a 2.25 per cent raise in the agreement’s first year, 2.75 per cent in the second, three per cent in the third and 2.5 per cent in each of the following three years — adding a sixth year to the agreement.

“By moving the money earlier in the contract, the negotiating committee was able to put more money in the membership pockets sooner,” UFCW executive director Chris O’Halloran said in a release Tuesday after the company agreed to the new raise schedule.

“We had heard that the membership wanted to see three per cent raises, and the company had offered them, but we wanted the money earlier in the CBA (collective bargaining agreement).”

Supplying customers in Canada and the U.S. as well as other export markets, Winnipeg-based Richardson’s Lethbridge plant has capacity to handle up to 700,000 tonnes of canola per year, following a $120 million expansion in 2017.

The Lethbridge plant includes a packaging facility at which canola oil is bottled and margarine and shortening are packaged. Its products are sold under the Canola Harvest and Wesson brands and to private-label and foodservice customers.

Richardson’s other oilseed facilities include its canola crush and refining plant at Yorkton, Sask. and its margarine plant at Oakville, Ont. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401, which represents about 140 workers at the Lethbridge plant, said Monday its members had voted 79 per cent to reject the offer.

The workers’ previous contract expired at the end of August 2019; the union and company had agreed during earlier talks to seek a five-year contract taking it through to Aug. 31, 2024.

Votes were held in Lethbridge Dec. 16 and online Dec. 17, after the company put forward “what they describe as their last best and final offer,” UFCW said Dec. 10.

UFCW spokesperson Chris O’Halloran, in the union’s Dec. 10 notice, said there’s “never as much money in one of these offers as we would like.”

The union said Monday it will now apply to go to mediation, emphasizing that process is meant to help parties “clarify their positions and reach a compromise.”

Mediation would continue for at least two days before the union can ask the provincially appointed mediator to “write out” — that is, provide non-binding recommendations in the event that talks don’t produce a deal.

Once a mediator writes out, UFCW said Dec. 10, a 14-day mandatory cooling-off period follows, during which time the union “will schedule and hold a strike vote.”

That said, the union added Monday it also “will be looking to return to the bargaining table to see if the company will improve their offer.”

Supplying customers in Canada and the U.S. as well as other export markets, Winnipeg-based Richardson’s Lethbridge plant has capacity to handle up to 700,000 tonnes of canola per year, following a $120 million expansion in 2017.

The Lethbridge plant includes a packaging facility at which canola oil is bottled and margarine and shortening are packaged. Its products are sold under the Canola Harvest and Wesson brands and to private-label and foodservice customers.

Richardson’s other oilseed facilities include its canola crush and refining plant at Yorkton, Sask. and its margarine plant at Oakville, Ont. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The company on Monday announced it will start work immediately on “facility upgrades and improvements” that would allow it to process over 2.2 million tonnes of canola seed per year.

Site work would also give the plant a “high-speed shipping system” with three 9,500-foot loop tracks that can serve both major Canadian railways, as well as three high-speed receiving lanes for deliveries by farmers and truckers.

Full-time positions are expected to be added at the plant when the expansion is complete, the company said, but didn’t predict a specific number. A dollar figure on the company’s latest investment wasn’t given in its release Monday.

The Yorkton processing and oil refining plant “will be dedicated to moving canola crush products at some of the most efficient levels seen in North America,” Richardson said.

“The global outlook for Canadian canola oil is promising, and this latest investment emphasizes our ongoing commitment to best in class facilities,” Darrell Sobkow, the company’s senior vice-president, for processing, food and ingredients, said in a release Monday.

“Yorkton lies right in the heart of canola country and we are focused on providing our producer customers with increasingly efficient means for meeting the needs of a growing global consumptive market.”

Construction at the site, due to be completed in early 2024, will involve “no disruption to current operations,” the company said.

“We opened the original Yorkton plant in 2010 and at that time, it was by far the largest capital investment Richardson had ever undertaken,” Richardson CEO Curt Vossen said in a separate provincial release.

“Saskatchewan and Manitoba producers have responded effectively, providing growth in canola production over the years — this has given us the confidence to move forward with expansion once again.”

Saskatchewan’s Agriculture Minister David Marit, in the same release, said Richardson’s expansion “will help Saskatchewan meet the goals outlined in our Growth Plan, which includes a target to crush 75 per cent of the canola our province produces here in Saskatchewan.”

Richardson has been aggressively dialing up its Prairie crush in the past decade, including a $30 million expansion at Yorkton in 2014.

More recently, in 2017, it brought a $120 million expansion online at its Lethbridge canola processing and oil packaging plant, bringing that facility’s peak annual crush to over 700,000 tonnes per year.

The southern Alberta plant, billed by Richardson as one of the first in the world to market canola oil, was previously expanded in 2015, which in turn followed a $15 million expansion on its bottling and packaging facility in 2012. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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Mike Fleischhauer of Eagle Commodities in Lethbridge said international demand — especially in China, Japan and India — has grown for the crop.

Demand for feed in Alberta is also set to increase, after the opening of a new 40,000-head feedlot near Enchant, about 75 km northeast of Lethbridge, later this year. Elevators are also buying up new crop and farmers are holding on to their old crop.

“The price is at the highest we’ve seen for some years, for sure,” he said. “It’s obviously a positive for the farmers that are selling it. They’ve had four or five years of (not that) positive (prices) and now they’re having a year where they’re making some money.”

According to Prairie Ag Hotwire data from Thursday, high-delivered bids for Alberta feed barley have run up to $6.97 per bushel, an increase of $2 from the same time last year. By comparison, feed barley in Saskatchewan and Manitoba has traded as high as $6 and $5.94 respectively.

“I predict (these high prices are) going to stay until 2023,” Fleischhauer said. “(But) at any given time with what goes on internationally or what goes on in China, they could say, ‘No more,’ and it goes down.”

He also stressed that barley is just one of a few crops experiencing price hikes due to increased demand. According to Fleischhauer, corn futures, now at levels not seen since 2013, are dictating the market for both barley and wheat.

“If the corn value is still up there, then the barley values are going to follow. If corn starts to drop, then barley starts to drop. Because at one point in time, (buyers) want to buy corn but obviously at that price it’s not viable to buy it.”

As for seeding expectations, Fleischhauer has heard from farmers they will grow more barley, citing the higher prices and demand.

“For the most part, Alberta has been fairly good for moisture. There are a couple of pockets that are dry,” he said. “Between now and May long weekend, we’ll see what we get.”

— Adam Peleshaty reports for MarketsFarm from Stonewall, Man.

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Spot feed barley bids in the Lethbridge, Alta. area have held in the $270-$275 per tonne range through November, said Jim Beusekom of Market Place Commodities in the key feedlot alley city.

Meanwhile, prices for delivery in the late winter through the spring have strengthened into the $275-$290 area.

“The end user is trying to get some coverage for that time period,” Beusekom said. Solid export demand continues to cut into supplies, and domestic feeders are paying up to secure deliveries.

“The ones who want to use barley no matter what, are going out there and paying what they have to pay so they can make sure they have the supply,” he said.

While they may be paying up for deferred delivery, feeders are generally well covered for the time being.

Beusekom noted feed wheat was trading at a $5-$10 per tonne discount to barley for both spot delivery and into the spring. While he had yet to notice a major switch, “the option is there for feeders to cut back their barley usage and include some wheat in their ration.”

Corn is currently trading at around $285 per tonne into Lethbridge, with spring prices topping $300. Feedlots will switch to corn if barley prices get out of hand, “but at this point (corn) is still too much money,” Beusekom said.

Rising canola and pulse prices have given farmers many options for cash flow, limiting their willingness to sell feed grains to some extent.

While prices are firm for now, “the market will turn when people least expect it,” Beusekom said, noting much of the general strength in the market was linked to Chinese demand for commodities.

“They’re on and they’re off. Right now they’re on, but what happens when they’re off?”

— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

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“It is so hard to gauge,” said Susanne Leclerc, owner of Market Master Ltd. in Edmonton, adding “I don’t think anybody can predict these markets this year.”

The ongoing global pandemic, the uncertain U.S. political situation and a trade dispute between China and Australia are just a few of the outside influences that may sway the domestic feed market.

Leclerc added that the immediacy of information from tweets and other sources can lead to choppiness and overreaction in markets, even when information being spread is not based in reality.

“We’ve seen political drama over the past couple of years drive more than anything,” said Leclerc.

However, while uncertainty remains, general fundamentals remain supportive for barley bids and the market is steady for the time being as feedlots continue to book grain for the winter.

Canada has exported 750,000 tonnes of barley during the first 12 weeks of the 2020-21 marketing year, according to Canadian Grain Commission data. That’s more than double what moved during the same period the previous year. The increase in barley moving internationally cuts into the domestic supply, which is supportive for prices.

Feed barley is currently trading at around $265-$275 per tonne delivered into Lethbridge. Those bids are off their recent highs, but still well above what the grain was trading at off the combine.

Leclerc noted the wide spread in Lethbridge bids highlights the need for growers to do due diligence when looking to move grain, as some buyers may have more space to fill than others.

— Phil Franz-Warkentin reports for MarketsFarm from Winnipeg.

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