Strong new crop prices for flax are expected to drive acres higher again in 2015. “The economics of flax currently make a lot of sense. There are a number of new crop bids in the $12.50 (per bushel) range. Compared to other crops that’s quite profitable, and compared to history that’s quite profitable, so I... Read More

When Mark Muench was frustrated with the strip tillage tool options available to him, he decided to work with Salford to develop a new tool that would tackle the conditions on his farm near Ogden, Iowa. Over a decade of adjusting his soil management practices and equipment went in to getting strip tillage right on... Read More

Sunflowers may rival flax for the honour of “prettiest crop,” but this brightly flowered food and oilseed crop has another rather dubious distinction — disease magnet. From the very ominous sounding phoma black stem, to the insidious sclerotinia, Real Agriculture caught up with Sam Markell, extension plant pathologist with North Dakota State University to talk... Read More

As part of McDonald’s 2020 Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability Framework, the company has commited to begin purchasing a portion of verified sustainable beef in 2016. Using principles and criteria approved by the Global and Canadian Roundtables for Sustainable Beef, the company is currently recruiting for the pilot project. “When you look at consumer data,... Read More

Testing for clubroot falls into an interesting classification — it's a disease, yes, but it's in soil. Do you send samples to a soil lab or a seed lab? In this edition of Under the Microscope, Holly Gelech, business development manager with Biovision Seed Labs, walks us through how labs test for clubroot and while... Read More

The federal agriculture minister, seed industry officials and representatives from various crop sector and farmer organizations celebrated the passage of Bill C-18 — the Agricultural Growth Act — at the head office of Canterra Seeds in Winnipeg on Friday. The legislation, which includes the implementation of the UPOV ’91 standard for plant breeders’ rights and... Read More

Many farmers will be familiar with vDrive, a technology that allows each planter to be controlled and monitored independently. The result, powered by a 12-volt motor, is variable rate planting, that accounts for real-time changes in speed (including around corners). On January 21 of this year, Precision Planting announced the same technology would be used... Read More

Acres that were penciled in for wheat back in December might get switched to canola in spring, depending on how much weight farmers put into the price relationship between wheat and canola, says the vice-president for oilseeds with Louis Dreyfus Commodities. Brian Conn says back in November and December, they were expecting a decline in... Read More