There are few things on livestock operations more difficult than deciding whether or not to euthanize an animal. And according to Jan Shearer, professor at Iowa State University, we tend to let that decision go on way too long. Shearer was a speaker at this year’s UCVM Beef Cattle Conference pre-conference, where he spoke on... Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
Grain Farmers of Ontario today announced it has commenced legal proceedings against the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. “Late last week, Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) filed a request to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to provide an interpretation of the neonicotinoid treated seed regulations,” says Mark Brock, chair of Grain Farmers... Read More
There’s no two ways about it — huge swaths of Ontario’s growing region is now excessively wet. And not, “Hey, that was a heavy rainstorm!” wet, but soaked-right-through-for-the-third-time wet. With all this water, farmers are understandably nervous about what impact wet soil and standing water may have on the yield of the corn and soybean... Read More
Following regulatory delays over several years, Monsanto Canada representatives say they’re confident the company will finally be able to introduce its soybeans with tolerance to both glyphosate and dicamba herbicides to the North American market for 2016. All the required biotech and herbicide approvals for the Roundup Ready 2 Xtend system are in place in... Read More
Grains had a big week in the markets with everything ending in the green thanks to wet weather in the U.S. Midwest, and drier weather in Western Canada and Europe. November canola on the Winnipeg exchange nearly touched $12/bu, winter corn and soybean contracts pushed above $4/bu and $10/bu (respectively) in Chicago, and we’re starting... Read More
Not that I’m getting old (!), but back in the 1980s I was long into adulthood when the craft beer movement started, at least as far as I see it now. That’s when the spirit of the West led an entrepreneur outside of Calgary to create Big Rock beer, which remains one of my favourites.... Read More
The diversity of North American agriculture is again on display in this week’s news podcast. From the farmer’s role in fighting antibiotic resistance to how Canadian dairy farmers could be affected by a potential Trans-Pacific Partnership to the trends at AgTech Week down in San Francisco, here’s a summary of what happened “This Week on... Read More
You have several corn fields and only one of you — how do you prioritize which field gets fungicide first? 2015 is shaping up to likely be a high disease pressure year, says Albert Tenuta, field crop plant pathologist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), and a little planning now... Read More
Soy Canada will receive just over $350,000 in federal funding to allow the organiztion to capitalize on "new and emerging international markets and demand for Canadian soybean products." Canada is currently the world’s 5th largest exporter of soybeans, exporting to over 55 countries in 2014. Canadian soybean production has increased nearly 125% in the last... Read More
Elizabeth Homerosky, doctor of veterinary medicine and Simpson Ranch Fellow at the University of Calgary, is looking at developing a scoring system that might enable producers to predict a calf’s ability to consume colostrum on its own, in a timely manner. So far, the data seems to point in a rather unsurprising direction: suckling reflex.... Read More