Retailers are enjoying this part of the beef cycle. Producers? Not so much. Cattle futures put in some new lows last week, as Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock joins us for another Beef Market Update. With slaughter levels in the U.S. up around 10 percent for the last two weeks of April, there's been a... Read More
Category: Features
The gene gun, the first of which literally used a .22-calibre bullet, was invented by plant geneticists working at Cornell University in the 1980s as a way of injecting DNA into plant cells. The technology made the process of introducing new genetic material to many major crops, including corn and wheat, much more efficient, helping... Read More
Having your tractor hop up a hill is never a good feeling. Besides being downright uncomfortable, it's a powerful reminder that the tractor isn't operating to its full potential (think fuel consumption, tire wear and drawbar performance). But proper ballasting can be a big job, making it an easy job to overlook. That's where John... Read More
When it comes to climate change, here’s another thing to worry about: the continuing viability and stability of ancient fungi living deep inside your pasture grass, and the overall lack of attention they — and indeed the ecology of pasture grass in general — are receiving in these rapidly changing times. If you pasture livestock,... Read More
Many of the new innovations from machinery companies at Agritechnica's 2015 show seemed to be inspired by transportation issues, and the Seagull Telescopic Reel from STW srl Italy was no exception. The harvester header combines the aforementioned telescopic reel technology with a folding cutting platform to compress widths during transport, allowing the header to shrink... Read More
I sat beside a semi-retired oilfield executive on a plane recently. “I’ve got a book in me,” he said, when he found out I was a writer. “I’ve lived all over the place and done a lot.” When I asked him for an example, he talked about how he still drove his 1999 pick up,... Read More
Grains shot out of the cannon this week as heavy trading volumes propelled markets to new multi-month highs. Soybeans led the charge, thanks to concerns over the size of the Argentinian harvest. With soybean markets rallying well above the $10/bushel handle, profits were taken and the complex settled below the coveted double-digit level before weekend... Read More
Dryness is becoming a serious concern on the western side of the Prairies, as seeding is getting underway. Meanwhile, cold and wet conditions have hampered progress in Ontario. Meteorologist Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc is one of the people we hear from on this week's podcast. Also, Ontario farmers have lost their court case... Read More
Cattle feeding does take a true cast iron gut at times. Whether it is dollar exchange, feed costs or external political factors, the volatility in all the profit and loss variables is enough to drive you mad. In this weeks Beef Market Update Anne Wasko and Shaun Haney discuss the beef markets and how the... Read More
How much, or how little, should you drink? How much money should your kids get for allowance? How much should you set aside for holidays, for retirement? How much time should you spend on communications, and what should you do? You may have grappled with the some of the questions above. But most farmers have... Read More