There are many aspects of farming that are beyond a farmer's control (weather, markets...), but there are also variables that can be managed better than they have been in the past, according to the Georgia farmer who has set world corn and soybean yield records. "We make big yields and we blame the weather. We... Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
Soybeans will be on the verge of matching corn acres in the U.S. this year, according to the USDA's Prospective Plantings report published Friday. Higher soybean acres has been the consensus in the market for some time, but the department's soybean acreage estimate of 89.5 million was still well above the average pre-report guess of... Read More
Almost half of North American Certified Crop Advisors (CCAs) holding a new 4R Nutrient Management designation reside in Ontario. That puts Ontario’s crop advisors at the forefront of efforts to help farmers and agriculture improve water quality, environmental stewardship and sustainability, says Ontario Certified Crop Advisor Association executive director Susan Fitzgerald. Earlier this week, the... Read More
The federal government is proposing the elimination of deferred cash purchase tickets for grain sales — a tool used by farmers to manage cash flow for tax purposes from one year to the next. When delivering a listed grain (such as wheat, oats, barley, rye, flaxseed, or canola), producers have long had the option of... Read More
The University of Guelph has received its single largest-ever gift — $20 million from the Arrell Family Foundation — to establish the Arrell Food Institute at U of G. “This landmark gift will allow our University to address the defining challenge of our time: food security, safety and sustainability,” said U of G president Franco... Read More
Fresh off the 100th episode of Wheat Pete's Word, the questions are pouring in, as are the all-in-good-fun "Just how old are you, Peter Johnson?" comments. In this week's word, we're talking soil nutrients in snirt (soil/dirt mix), why you shouldn't worry about brown-leaved wheat just yet, why geese are terrible creatures, when we can... Read More
The House of Commons Agriculture Committee sent a letter to the federal Health Minister last week outlining concerns about Health Canada's proposed ban of imidacloprid, one of the three main neonicotinoid seed treatments used by farmers. The extended comment period on the proposal to phase out imidacloprid use over the next three years concluded on... Read More
As the weeks pass by do you keep your head down without paying much attention to the environment around you? We are all busy in our hectic lives as we try to find time for work, family, and personal time. We become so task oriented as we try to complete seeding, finish that last email,... Read More
Mike Dorion calls himself ‘the compost kid’ and he believes farmers should think about their fields like he does his garden. The founder of Calgary-based Living Soil Solutions doesn’t suggest cash crop farmers use tea leaves to improve soil health, but he does preach the benefits of reducing tillage, banking organic matter to help increase... Read More
If you've never heard Jolene Brown, farm family advisor and total firecracker, speak, you're missing out. Brown spoke recently at the Advancing Women in Agriculture conference in Calgary, and then found some time to sit down with our own Shaun Haney to talk about in-laws, tough decisions, work/life/farm balance, and what family really means. Brown... Read More