Despite armies of well-meaning accountants, bankers and consultants urging them to do so, many Canadian farm families don’t have a plan in place to transfer ownership between generations. It could be the word succession that’s getting in the way. This can imply an abrupt change, when the older generation is booted out to pasture and... Read More
Category: Agronomy
Alberta has a unique part of the seed value chain in its Alberta Seed Processors organization. For many towns, the seed plant has been an integral part of the town's economy and, in some cases, even helped build the town. As Monica Klaas, with the Alberta Seed Processors, explains, though, the role of the seed... Read More
It's a question people grapple with daily — is it better to be a generalist, with a knowledge on a great number of topics, or a specialist, who can talk with gumption about a specific field? The Canola Council of Canada has found a way to get the best of both worlds, with a group... Read More
What do Canadian speed skater Kim Boutin and your soil have in common? They both prosper and succeed when you treat them like an Olympic athlete. Boutin’s Olympic training earned her three medals at the recently-concluded Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. What would happen if farmers treated their soil like an Olympic athlete? Soil... Read More
How important is the number of rows on a corn cob? When row numbers shrink from 20 to 18 you could be looking at a 20-bushel per acre yield loss, says Illinois-based BASF agronomist Jeremy Hogan. On this edition of RealAgriculture's Corn School, Hogan breaks down four components of yield – protecting row numbers, maximizing... Read More
Tiles, tillers, and tests. In this week's episode of the Word, host Peter Johnson covers everything from tile drainage systems plugging with roots, to managing tillering in wheat, and variability in organic matter tests. Plus: even non-clay soils can compact... Have a question you’d like Johnson to address? Or some yield results to send in?... Read More
Salford Group has made its first foray into aftermarket equipment with the launch of mounted air boom applicators for common sprayer chassis and floater chassis. The company unveiled its Salford-Valmar 6700 last week at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky. The company bills the new release as the world's only aftermarket chassis mounted... Read More
With an emphasis on maximizing bushels and minimizing frost risk, minimum protein content of soybeans hasn't been on the radar of most Western Canadian growers, as acres in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have exploded from 825 thousand in 2012 to 3.1 million in 2017. The same can be said for breeders developing new varieties. As acres... Read More
It's not just herbicides with a persistent nature that can cause injury in the following years if conditions are dry enough. In very dry growing seasons, herbicide actives don't break down in the soil and will remain there until a rainfall when these still-potent molecules are released back in to the root zone. As Jason... Read More
In this week's episode of the Word, host Peter Johnson takes us through a few of his key learnings in the last month with a discussion on the 38 million acre problem — herbicide resistance. Then Johnson talks geese in wheat, building magnesium, cover crops, tillage, and spreading/piling manure. Have a question you’d like Johnson... Read More