What's the difference between a natural system and a farming system? The harvest, of course! Does that mean we can go "back to nature"? Oh, what a great question, and one that Peter "Wheat Pete" Johnson tackles on this final episode of the 2024 calendar year. In this week's podcast also hear about using cover... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Over the decades, attitudes, thoughts and ideas within the forage and grazing community have shifted; however, the passion that ranchers have for the land and their lifelong commitment to learning have not. While at the Western Canada Conference on Soil Health and Grazing (WCCSHG) at Edmonton, Alta., last week, Grant Lastiwka of Renovo Seed spoke... Read More
There's no shortage of challenges facing Canadian grain producers — seemingly constant railway disruptions, regulatory hurdles, and plant breeding holdups all impact producers' bottom line. Darcy Pawlik is the new executive director of the Wheat Growers Association, and all these challenges are on the docket when it comes to outlining where the organization plans to... Read More
Pulses, such as peas, lentils, chickpeas, and faba beans, can be an excellent addition to a crop rotation as they fix their own nitrogen and even leave some for the next crop. The crops do have serious challenges, however, including aggressive root rots and diseases that can decimate yields, especially in wetter years. To unpack... Read More
Knowing your soil is critical to understanding a field's potential and setting realistic yield goals that make economic sense for the 2025 growing season. Heading into a the new year with depressed crop prices, growers will be looking to sharpen their pencils this winter to optimize input investment, including everything from seed and weed control... Read More
Efficiency and safety are everything when it comes time to bring the grain in. Meridian offers a few different augers of varying sizes within the TL line, including the 10- and 12-inch. The company has now also officially launched their new TL1346 hydraulic-drive auger to complement the existing line. Some of the innovations that make... Read More
Land is a fundamental and finite resource, yet it is easy to overlook its value in our everyday lives. Canada may have an abundance of land, but those acres are under immense pressure to serve multiple purposes—residential and industrial development, food production, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, solar and wind energy generation, recreation, and more. As we... Read More
The announced withdrawal of six major farm groups from the Sustainable Ag Strategy steering committee is a safe move for two reasons. First, there is little belief that the current government has a chance at forming the next government, and the Conservative government-in-waiting will most likely abandon the process anyway. Second, farmers see environmental policies... Read More
It's the unfortunate reality of rising interest rates, down markets, and just plain bad luck, but some farmers will experience having their loans and mortgages called in by their lender. Facing a financial crunch can be stressful, emotionally-charged, and difficult. Eric Olson, national leader of farm management consulting for MNP, says that farmers don't need... Read More
Biologicals have tremendous potential to help growers manage the stresses that impact corn throughout the growing season. Questions remain, however, on how to deploy these products, which include living organisms, bacteria, amino acids or plant extracts, in the pursuit of higher corn yields. AGRIS Co-operative agronomy strategy manager Dale Cowan has been testing biologicals for... Read More