As the volume of grain backed up on farms in Western Canada grows, proposed transportation legislation that could help grain shippers address poor rail service remains stalled in the Senate. As it's written right now, Bill C-49 — originally introduced in the House of Commons last spring — would give grain shippers the right to... Read More
Category: Podcasts
What do Canadian speed skater Kim Boutin and your soil have in common? They both prosper and succeed when you treat them like an Olympic athlete. Boutin’s Olympic training earned her three medals at the recently-concluded Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. What would happen if farmers treated their soil like an Olympic athlete? Soil... Read More
If drought concerns, disease pressure, or low commodity prices have you scratching your head on crop rotation tweaks, Alberta farmers have access to two, free crop planning and profitability programs offered by the provincial agriculture department. The first program, Crop Choice$, allows farmers to input their own costs and yield expectations, and is also fully... Read More
How important is the number of rows on a corn cob? When row numbers shrink from 20 to 18 you could be looking at a 20-bushel per acre yield loss, says Illinois-based BASF agronomist Jeremy Hogan. On this edition of RealAgriculture's Corn School, Hogan breaks down four components of yield – protecting row numbers, maximizing... Read More
The traditional 3-point hitch assembly shifts most of the implement load on to the rear axle. We counter this with ballast on the front end of the tractor, which is not always precise, but is always added weight (a drag on efficiency!). Fendt looked at the problem in a less conventional way and came up... Read More
Commodity Classic continues in Anaheim, California, with Shaun Haney hosting today's show on-location. Kelvin Heppner is also in the States in this week, in Washington, DC, for the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Convention, where he sits down with Grain Growers of Canada president Jeff Nielsen to discuss the federal budget and what's in it, or... Read More
Players are going to start dropping out of the race to be the dominant farm data platform sooner than later, says a cropping systems economist who focuses on farm data analytics at Kansas State University. Right now there are still dozens, maybe hundreds, of participants, with agronomy companies, equipment manufacturers, seed and chemical companies, tech... Read More
With commodity prices staying low and farmers facing higher interest rates for the foreseeable future, there is reason to be cautious about equipment sales moving forward, especially after 2017's mixed bag of results between Canada and the U.S. Some manufacturers, though, do see light at the end of the tunnel. At play in the optimism,... Read More
Tiles, tillers, and tests. In this week's episode of the Word, host Peter Johnson covers everything from tile drainage systems plugging with roots, to managing tillering in wheat, and variability in organic matter tests. Plus: even non-clay soils can compact... Have a question you’d like Johnson to address? Or some yield results to send in?... Read More
The Alberta Cattle Feeders' Association (ACFA) met last week at the Alberta Beef Industry Conference for their Annual General Meeting, where a resounding 75 percent of the membership voted in favour of pursuing an agreement that is being called the "New Era Beef Industry." This agreement, if successful, will see a change to the check-off... Read More