The private member's bill that would exempt natural gas and propane used on farms for drying grain and heating barns from the federal carbon tax was approved, with amendments, by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food on Monday. Bill C-234, originally introduced by Ontario Conservative MP Ben Lobb in February of... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Jammed-full ports in Ontario are impacting basis and possible longer-term options for cash sales in the province, as laker traffic costs increase and tight freight access puts the squeeze on storage space along the St. Lawrence. Jeff Barlow, farmer from near Hamilton, Ont., and director with Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO), doesn't usually ever have... Read More
Winter is not always kind to fall-planted wheat. Sometimes thin stands and winter kill make for a poor economic outlook and growers need to take it out and plant another crop. What do growers need to think about if they decide to switch to soybeans? Are there implications if a cereal herbicide had been applied... Read More
Seasonal movement off the lows of the pea and lentil markets hasn't resulted in much beyond sideways movement, says Chuck Penner, founder of Leftfield Commodity Research, based at Winnipeg, Manitoba. But there are some differences between red and green lentils and yellow and green peas. The challenging harvest weather in Australia is playing a significant... Read More
Regardless of the preparation and planning that goes into a crop, it’s weather that ultimately turns a struggling crop into a winner, or inhibits a crop from ever reaching its full potential. Jay Whetter, editor of Canola Digest for the Canola Council of Canada (CCC), says this year’s canola yields were dramatically impacted by the... Read More
As we well know, there's a lot that goes in to growing the "perfect" crop. SeedMaster Manufacturing has decided to show they are up to the challenge, creating a contest where a canola grower in Western Canada will win everything essential they need to grow a whole quarter section of canola. Dubbed the "160 Acres... Read More
If you're tired of hearing words such as "unprecedented" and "new normal," you're not alone. That said, over time, what is average or normal or expected does change and evolve. Take commodity prices, for example. Over the very long term, the bottom level resistance for wheat futures at one time was $2/bushel. Eventually, that rose... Read More
Corn on corn shouldn't be the plan, but when it is, make sure the stalks are baled and returned as manure, says Peter "Wheat Pete" Johnson. In this early November episode of Wheat Pete's Word, our host shares insight in to what's causing corn field fires, how much stress tolerance has improved in crop types,... Read More
The ground may freeze and the plants stop growing, but there's no "off season" for good agronomy. Just because the crop is in the bin, doesn't mean we should stop thinking about how to improve production. The way to do that, says Leighton Blashko of BASF, is to think of the 5 Ws of planning... Read More
When it comes to weed control, we can't always wait for the next thing in the pipeline, we need to manage what we have — which sometimes means getting creative. For this edition of the Agronomists, host Lyndsey Smith is joined by Jeanette Gaultier of BASF, and Rob Bahry of ADAMA Canada, to discuss clever... Read More