The winds of change have blown through Canada. No longer is Alberta on top of the Canadian economic machine. Ontario is no longer the manufacturing super power. The word 'Conservative' cannot be found in the name of any governing provincial party and no one is joking about the attitude of Saskatchewan. "Excellence is not a... Read More
Category: Podcasts
In this week’s Word, Peter Johnson, resident agronomist for RealAgriculture and host of this weekly podcast, answers questions around weather, rotations and fertility. 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: Recognize that food is everyone's business. If you've farmed today, thank a consumer.... Read More
Forget the silver bullet, whether it's some nonexistent piece of machinery or the latest snake oil crop input. In reality, the key to boosting a farm's bottom line is incremental improvements that add up. Kristjan Hebert (@kristjanhebert) is a farmer from Fairlight, Saskatchewan and a proponent of the "five percent rule" — a philosophy advanced... Read More
There's a balance that must be struck in any farm succession plan. Mom and dad (the retiring generation) need enough money to retire and enjoy what they've earned, while the succeeding generation needs to start with enough to maintain a viable business. As Jacquie Gerrard of Backswath Management explains, farm succession conversations should start with... Read More
It's the week of FarmTech in Edmonton. We head to the Northlands to hear some highlights from Debra Murphy, as well as to KAP's meeting in Winnipeg for a panel of farm leaders from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and prairie general farm groups discussing the need to "maintain social license" — here's this week's... Read More
With planting season around the corner, markets are starting to focus on acreage expectations, looking for answers to questions like "how high will lentil acres actually be in Western Canada and the northern US?" But while there's plenty of talk about pulses, there are also questions to be answered about 2016 wheat and canola production,... Read More
In this week’s Word, Peter Johnson, resident agronomist for RealAgriculture and host of this weekly podcast, shares highlights from the FarmSmart and YieldSmart conferences, Ag Days in Brandon, as well as answers to several specific questions on thin wheat stands, manure management, under-seeding with red clover and more. Have a question for Wheat Pete? Call... Read More
Farmers are often urged to tell their story, to share their perspective on what happens on farms, but what does that look like? Most producers tend to enjoy growing crops and raising livestock — storytelling isn't usually on the list of skills required to be a farmer. Speaking at FarmTech in Edmonton on Tuesday, author... Read More
Wheat and barley grower organizations from across Western Canada are trying to figure out how to move forward with farmer involvement in variety development. The transitional Western Canadian wheat and barley check-offs implemented by the federal government with the end of the Canadian Wheat Board's monopoly in 2012 are set to expire in 2017. The... Read More
Advancements in farm technology often come from major investments in research and development by large companies, but there are still cases where farmer ingenuity is part of developing something new. Matt Reimer, a young farmer from Killarney, Manitoba, has received plenty of attention after posting videos on YouTube last summer of his work automating a... Read More