It's hard finding farm safety national stats that go past 2008 – and it’s high time we had some, to figure out trends – but you don't need hard numbers to know farm safety is vital, especially this time of year. Farm safety problems peak in the fall, during harvest, when farmers spend long hours... Read More

It's late September and Peter Johnson, cereal specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, can't understand why a harvested pea field is bare. "This (pea field) is the ultimate place to plant wheat...this should have been planted two weeks ago!" Johnson adds that research proves planting winter wheat early results in…Read More

With a challenging harvest underway, it's probably not be a high priority, but now could be the time to lock in prices for some of next year's nitrogen fertilizer. Lower crop prices will place an extra emphasis on managing input costs for the 2015 crop, notes Mike Jubinville, president and senior analyst with ProFarmer Canada,... Read More

At General Mills' 86th annual meeting held yesterday in Minneapolis, shareholders voted resoundingly against a proposal to eliminate genetically modified ingredients from its products. The proposal was submitted by Harriett Crosby of Maryland. The proposal cites Goss' Wilt, Agent Orange, Bt-resistant rootworms and gluten-intolerance induced by glyphosate as some of the reasons to eliminate GMOs.... Read More

Larger farm equipment has its benefits on the field, but there's also additional risk in getting it there, particularly when driving new machinery under old power lines. Just ask Gerrid Gust, a farmer from Davidson, Saskatchewan. During seeding this past spring, an air-drill from Gust’s farm snagged a power line over a main road in... Read More

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz today completed a trade mission to China and India to open new markets for Canadian farmers and agriculture industries. Of particular note, Minister Ritz met with China’s Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu to work to secure permanent access for Canadian live cattle valued by industry at $150 million annually once fully... Read More