Farmland values across Canada continue to climb. Some very early seeding is beginning in the West, although there are concerns about dryness. Canada and the EU continue to work on their trade deal, and a popular reality TV veterinarian is showing how farmers care for their animals. We hear from FCC economist JP Gervais, trade... Read More
Category: Podcasts
In this week’s Word, Peter Johnson, resident agronomist for RealAgriculture, covers everything from weather to annual ryegrass control. And, did you get last week's homework assignment done? Skip to Podcast Have a question for Wheat Pete? Call 1-888-746-3311, send him a tweet (@wheatpete), or email him at peter.johnson@bell.net. Highlights (01:05) Weather Update: (01:12) 7.5" rainfall... Read More
Walking through the Western Canadian Dairy Seminar tradeshow for the first time felt a bit reminiscent of my first day on the job. I was equally overwhelmed and intrigued by all the new faces and unrecognizable products. But, when I spotted Cargill's booth (a no doubt familiar logo) in conjunction with a CowSignals display, I... Read More
If there was some way of measuring trending topics in farmer conversations in Western Canada over the past six months, "so, are you growing peas this year?" would be at or near the top. Thanks to the very strong prices that are accompanying a global pulse shortage, a record number of pea (and lentil) acres... Read More
It's the world's challenge to provide safe and affordable food, Kay Kuenker, entrepreneur and consultant told delegates at this year's Advancing Women in Agriculture Conference (West). And, according to Kuenker, women must be involved in addressing this issue. "Women are showing that every imaginable discipline or role in that can be fulfilled by a woman,"... Read More
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was the winning bidder as Switzerland-based commodities giant Glencore sought to sell a chunk of its agricultural assets, including grain company Viterra. The CPPIB and Glencore announced last week they have reached a deal that will see the CPPIB pay $2.5 billion for a 40 percent stake in Glencore's... Read More
It was made pretty clear at the Advancing Women in Agriculture conference in Calgary: women need to be more involved in boards. According to a survey conducted by GMI Ratings, in 2012 women held just 10.3% of seats on Canadian boards, a far cry from the 30%, and ultimately 50% goal outlined by a Report... Read More
What do you want to improve on your farm this spring? As part of TechTour LIVE last month, Rob Hannam of Synthesis Agri-Food Network encouraged farmers to apply "lean" principles to their farm operations. As he explains in the video below, "lean" is a philosophy for reducing loss and waste from a process. There are... Read More
To farm you need to have a very diverse skill set. Those same skills transfer to other activities or careers in life. Think about how many companies focus on hiring farm kids because they have very desirable foundation skills. These same farm kid characteristics are transferable and valuable at any age. Warren Kaeding, a former... Read More
With governments across the country talking about putting a price on carbon, there's serious concern that policy-makers will end up taxing and raising costs for a group of people who have made significant progress in and are already achieving the intended outcome of sequestering carbon: farmers. "I don't think we've done a very good job... Read More