Category: Features

From afar – and maybe even up close -- it’s hard to know exactly what’s going on in environmental hot spots, such as Alberta’s oilsands, despite oil company ads that tell everything is coming up roses. But agriculture needs to pay more attention to oilsands. Here's why. It’s hard to separate agriculture and the environment,... Read More

We bring you "This Week on Real Ag" for September 18th, as Kelvin Heppner recaps some of the bigger ag stories from the past seven days. This week's podcast includes updates on harvest, railway and government relations, grain markets and COOL, as well as some dialogue about A&W's new egg marketing campaign. Oh and of... Read More

Thousands of Winnipeggers and non-farming Manitobans will leave their homes intent on seeing and smelling where their food comes from this weekend. For the last five years, the Manitoba government has organized and promoted an annual "Open Farm Day," which will be held on Sunday (a similar event will also be held this weekend in... Read More

I've often heard travelling farmers suggest their peers ignore the customs declaration form that asks whether or not you've recently visited a farm or are returning to one. The fear, is, of course, that the customs staff might waste your time with needless questions, disinfecting of boots and so forth. I've never paid much heed... Read More

In many Canadian communities, fire departments are struggling to recruit and retain qualified staff, largely because the "staff" are actually volunteers. According to the Office of the Fire Commissioner, there are 14 000 firefighters in Alberta alone, with volunteers accounting for 80% of that workforce, in 450 volunteer-operated fire departments across the province. When responding... Read More

I didn’t exactly plan it this way, but earlier this month I (and fellow RealAgriculture.com writer Debra Murphy, among others) found myself in Scotland, as the country was gearing up for what may be the biggest modern-era step it ever takes – that is, the September 18 referendum for independence. The timing with the referendum... Read More

With larger farms, bigger equipment and longer distances to travel from the farm to the field, the old slip-tank in the back of a pick-up truck simply doesn't cut it for the fuel needs on the field for many farms. As part of this episode of the Dow AgroSciences TechTour, Meridian's Ken Pierson describes the... Read More

Farmers have been collecting data since the first yield maps appeared 20 to 30 years ago. The promise then was that farmers would be able to turn data into management decisions that would benefit their bottom line. For most farmers, though, that has yet to happen. In this episode of the Agronomy Geeks Ontario podcast,... Read More

Here's a fun question: what nitrogen recommendations do you follow? Do you vary it by crop type or by field, ie. do you have a "canola blend"? Do you use tried-and-true removal rates compared against a current soil sample analysis? Or do you work backwards from a target yield? No matter which way you currently... Read More

It appears demand for beef has remained strong despite the high prices at the meat counter. As part of the latest RealAg Beef Market Update, Shaun Haney and Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock Exchange discuss the recent rally in cattle futures and how demand for beef has held. "All the proteins have moved higher. Pork... Read More