Nathan Phinney, now president of the Canadian Cattle Association, was just finished university and ready to ship some fat cattle for a decent pay day when the BSE news hit. The beef producer from New Brunswick says the impact of the BSE finding in 2003 was a "crippling blow" to not just cattle prices, but... Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
Imagine for a moment receiving 1,000 requests for media interviews in one single day. If you've ever worked as a communications contact or spokesperson for an event or group, that number should bowl you over. It's a tidal wave of attention, and, in 2003, all those asks were of the beef industry. At the time,... Read More
The immediate impact of finding a BSE-positive cow in Alberta in 2003 was swift and brutal. Overnight, Canada's export market evaporated and prices for cattle, especially older animals, tanked. As we look back on the decades that have followed, the longer-lasting impacts have been monumental, but not necessarily as clear. To dive in to what... Read More
Chilly to downright cold nights have some Ontario farmers worried about alfalfa, wheat, and beans. Of course, if you look west, the heat is on and so are the wildfires, obscuring the sun for much of Alberta. For this week's around-the-horn on agronomy updates, host of Wheat Pete's Word Peter Johnson tackles the frost question,... Read More
It is the year of the dandelion. The hardy perennial pests are bigger and more plentiful in fields across Ontario than farmers can ever remember. University of Guelph weed scientist Peter Sikkema has been fielding many questions about why the weed is so abundant this spring and how best to control it. When it comes... Read More
It's hard to believe that it has been 20 years since the BSE crisis struck Canada. The memories of that time still feel vivid, as if it were just yesterday. Last week's comments from a farmer in the Maritimes about the ongoing impact of the crisis reminded me of its lasting impacts. Even after two... Read More
Two weeks of dry weather conditions across Ontario has helped move a lot of manure over fields across the province. Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food & Rural Affairs manure management specialist Christine Brown is reporting that custom operators have been running hard and most farmers were finishing up applications for crop land late last week.... Read More
If you look at the commodity markets as of Tuesday, it's a bit of a mixed bag, but for the most part — there's no green on the screen. Jim McCormick of AgMarket.Net joined RealAg Radio host Shaun Haney to discuss what is going on, and where this uncertainty is coming from. As you can... Read More
Across Ontario, a stretch of dry weather has helped pushed corn planting past 80 per cent complete in many areas. "Things are rolling right along," reports RealAgriculture agronomist Peter Johnson. In his area of southwestern Ontario, "corn is wrapping up and growers are rolling hard into soybeans," he told a Tuesday morning virtual agribusiness breakfast... Read More
The focus is on pea aphids in this episode of the Pest & Predators podcast — and more importantly, what eats them! We know pea aphids can cause some definite damage in pulse crops — but to what extent? Dr. Tyler Wist, with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Saskatoon, joins host Shaun Haney to discuss the... Read More