The cool, wet spring weather in Ontario will likely continue through the planting season, although conditions will be more moderate, says Drew Lerner, ag meteorologist with World Weather Inc. "We're going to be a little slow getting moving because there is going to be an ongoing tendency for cooler-biased conditions to prevail," he says. "It's... Read More
Category: Podcasts
Does a cow need to have a calf to give milk? The answer should be obvious, but more than 70% of consumers get the question wrong explains University of Guelph associate professor Mike Von Massow. A majority of Canadians also believe that a chicken is processed for meat when it reaches four years of age.... Read More
80 percent of planter setup should be done before the unit leaves the yard. That's the work that can be completed before the weather and soil are ready for putting seed in the ground. But not everything can be calibrated before heading out to the field. In this Corn School episode, Shaun Dilliott of Kearney... Read More
Lethbridge County unanimously passed its new infrastructure tax on Thursday. It will no doubt increase the tax load for livestock producers in the county. Kasko Cattle Co. is a family-owned operation that runs a pair of feedyards and also farms in the county, so I called Ryan Kasko to discuss the new tax and how... Read More
Soils in much of Alberta and parts of western Saskatchewan are very dry and needing rain as early seeding activity is getting underway. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be widespread relief on the way in the next few weeks. "We are going to be looking for a balance across the majority of the prairies, and... Read More
Costco is about to embark on a very dedicated vertical integration strategy for its chicken business. As reported by Fortune.com earlier this week, Costco is set to build its own processing facility, and will build its own chicken farms for one third of its supply. With plans to produce and slaughter 1.7 million chickens per... 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
There will be more pulses (surprise!), barley, corn and durum planted on Canadian farms in 2016, according to StatsCan's acreage estimates published on Thursday. The canola acreage number was likely the largest surprise in the report, coming in below trade expectations at 19.3 million acres, down from 20.1 million in 2015. (see numbers below) "I... Read More
Parts per million versus pounds per acre. Olsen versus Bray. Nitrogen versus nitrate... Some of the numbers and technical terms on the paper or email you get from the soil test lab are relevant for understanding nutrient availability for your crop and others don't actually mean much for growing crops Western Canada. So which numbers... Read More
The Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) officially launched their sustainability initiative this week in Ottawa. The initiative, called proAction, includes national standards for milk quality, food safety, animal care, traceability, biosecurity and the environment. It's a way to showcase what the industry's strengths, while also encouraging constant progress and improvement. "As dairy farmers, we are... Read More