[GREAT EXUMA, THE BAHAMAS] – Farmers everywhere – including the Bahamas — used to get in and out of pigs relatively quickly. It’s not really like that anymore, as farming has become more sophisticated. But back then, when prices went up, herds grew quickly. When prices went down, herds shrunk about as fast. And so... Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
Grains started the month of April with a little bit of follow-through fanfare from the USDA’s stocks and acreage report on March 31st and some speculation over the start of the North American planting season and end of the first South American harvest. For the week, canola was the winner, gaining 0.9% which was helped... Read More
Last week, I woke in the middle of the night to go north. Well, northwest, then north, then more northwest. It took over nine hours to get to Kapuskasing, a mostly mining and lumber town of about 9,500 people. Kap sits in what's called the Great Clay Belt of Northern Ontario — approximately 16 million... Read More
AgriClear, a North America-wide online transaction and payment platform for cattle buyers and sellers, has announced a collaborative marketing agreement with Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+). Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) is a national program providing verification of Canadian beef production practices at the farm, ranch, and feedlot. Delivered nationally under the umbrella of the... Read More
We've hit April, and that means it's time for the first of many #plant17 reports! This week, we've got super early wheat going in in Alberta, believe it or not, so that's where we start with this edition of Wheat Pete's Word. For Ontario growers, host Peter Johnson kicks off with a rust warning and... Read More
If the word "biological" or "bio-stimulant" makes you think of fairy dust and unicorn hair, you're not alone, but these once-mysterious and poorly-understood products are proving their worth in broadacre, commercial agriculture. For example, large, science-based companies such as Monsanto and Alltech have joined in to the business of biological field crop products that reach... Read More
This column is long overdue. It should have been written shortly after Trudeau announced plans for a mandatory national price on carbon emissions during harvest in early October. Or even earlier, when some provincial governments started announcing their carbon tax or cap and trade programs. For all the time that's passed and words that have... Read More
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