DuPont Pioneer has rolled out a contest that will see an Eastern Canadian farmer win free Pioneer brand seed for up to 25 years. The “Seed for Life” contest was announced at the Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock on September 16, coinciding with the grand opening of the company’s new permanent building (seed shed) at... Read More

Even with other major stories percolating — sex education in schools and the federal election among them — the Syrian refugee crisis has thankfully not been nudged off the front pages. Noble and determined efforts are underway everywhere to help the estimated Syrian refugees find new homes. Last week, the Ontario government pledged $10.5 million... Read More

Grains this week were relatively mixed as a combination of various weather forecasts and new production reports had the trade flip-flopping all over the place. Corn and soybeans were lower with good growing conditions and South American planting starting up. The strength of the U.S. dollar has been waning a bit as expectations were confirmed... Read More

Ontario corn and soybean growers and agronomists are upset about comments made by the provincial agriculture minister in Question Period this week regarding the government's new rules limiting the use of neonicotinoid seed treatments. Two seed company agronomists say Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal misconstrued their words after Leal was asked by Tory agriculture critic Toby... Read More

It’s an interesting market for beef producers. While fed cattle are still struggling to find their market low, feeder animals are well above last year’s prices. And cow/calf producers may be feeling relieved, but will good margins be enough to persuade herd expansion? We hand Shaun Haney a bar of soap for this mid-September edition... Read More

For farmers in the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair watersheds, and Lake Huron’s southeast shores watershed, help to implement Better Management Practices (BMP) is here. It’s called GLASI, or the Great Lakes Agricultural Stewardship Initiative. Related: Agricultural Run-Off A Main Focus of Great Lakes’ Eutrophication Concerns “The official launch was last February at our... Read More

Statistics Canada released its first crop production estimates using a new model-based methodology on Thursday. The model takes into account satellite data, as well as historical figures from the traditional StatsCan Field Crop Reporting Series and agroclimatic information. What wasn’t required in compiling the numbers was a survey of farmers. “The traditional survey relies completely... Read More