The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture hosted the 2014 Agriculture Trade Summit in Saskatoon in early February. It was there that I met Jennifer Higginson, deputy director of the trade negotiations division of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Higginson's presentation dealt largely with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), citing an eventual elimination of over 95%... Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
Can I just say now that I am SO glad to see tail lights on this month? February may be the shortest month of the year, but the combination of wicked weather (third coldest winter on record that Manitoba has experienced), a busy schedule and a plague-like illness has made this month feel 10 days... Read More
In the past year, I have had two friends that lost canola seed bags off the back of their truck after seed pick up. Blame it on the wind, poor shrink wrap or your speedy driving, but you need to make sure that you have the seed bags secured on the truck or trailer deck... Read More
I suspect there will be a lot of angst over the new federal farm review and forecast – even though statistically, it’s a good news story. The report, released last week, showed farmers produced 96.5 million tonnes of grain in 2013. That’s a major leap over the previous year's relatively dismal 76.7-million tonne crop, which... Read More
It won't be business as usual, but if a newly-signed deal goes through, there may be at least some business happening at the Leamington tomato processing plant going forward. A group of investors, Highbury Canco Corporation, has a signed letter of intent with H.J. Heinz Company that will see the consortium take over the plant.... Read More
New Holland will be making its new Roll-Belt 560 Round Baler available in a few months. The baler has some significant upgrades from previous models, including ActiveSweep pickups, bale-slice systems, monitor choices and a specialty crop option. According to New Holland, the ActiveSweep pickups will increase the capacity of the machine by 20% and are... Read More
Farmers love to grow corn, that much we know. But there's a limit to how far love will take you when prices are low and land prices are sky-high. As farmers get antsy for spring planting to begin, talk inevitably turns to what will go in the ground this year. Not all the planned winter... Read More
Robots, pension plans and jet streams — what do all these have in common? All three will play an integral role in agriculture now and into the future. That’s according to Richard Worzel, a futurist and recent speaker at BASF’s Knowledge Harvest event. Worzel touched on several key factors that promise great demand for agriculture... Read More
John Deere has introduced two new series of compact utility tractors introduces — the 4M and 4R Series. Six models between the two series (4044M, 4052M, 4066M, 4044R, 4052R, 4066R) offer farmers, ranchers and acreage owners new options for tasks such as loading, mowing, raking and digging. The 4M and 4R models feature Final Tier... Read More
It’s time for another edition of AgNerds, where Shaun Haney and someone else equally tech-savvy talk about gizmos, gadgets and other techie things! And, yes, for this edition we do indeed have the one and only Peter Gredig back in the saddle/tradeshow chair to talk about, of all things, the cloud. The what, you say?... Read More