Wheat tillers are nothing but a well-camouflaged weed, right? Not exactly. While excessive tillering can cause grief for fungicide timing and harvest management, one tiller can actually pull its own weight and contribute to yield. How do you best manage for one or two tillers? Say it with us now: nitrogen! If you wanted to... Read More
Category: Western Canada
The numbers show grain movement has started to improve in Western Canada in the last few weeks, but it's up for debate how much credit should go to the railways for their internal actions; the government for increasing its scrutiny; or, simply the warmer temperatures and the arrival of spring. The rail backlog this winter... Read More
Whether the government brings forward small business tax change legislation, the U.S. closes the border to Canadian cattle, or a bill (i.e. C-49) ends up locked in the Senate and going nowhere fast, our industry associations and member-based organizations lobby for change on behalf of farmers. According to Wikipedia, lobbying is defined as: the act... Read More
Seven years after swede midge was identified in Ontario, three adult midge were found in Saskatchewan, in 2007. It was then believed the insects were the same species (Contarinia nasturtii), but researchers have since discovered differences between the two. "We have now behavioural evidence — we know that what we thought was swede midge in... Read More
The president of the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan says railways should have to cover the cost of having ships wait in port for delayed grain shipments. Todd Lewis has written a letter to Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay calling for CN and CP to pay demurrage charges caused by rail... Read More
Want to maximize combine productivity and put every corn kernel possible in the grain tank? That's what New Holland is promising farmers who invest in the company's new 9200 CornMaster Series of corn heads. The narrow-row heads are specifically developed for farmers planting in 20- and 22-inch row spacings and range from 12-row to 18-row... Read More
The Alberta and Saskatchewan governments have announced funding for provincial programs under the new Canadian Agricultural Partnership (CAP). The five-year federal-provincial-territorial agriculture framework is set to begin this weekend (April 1), as Growing Forward 2 comes to an end. Alberta Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay was in Calgary on Monday, where he announced $406 million... Read More
While most pastures across Saskatchewan were blanketed with snow this past winter, the landscape will change quickly as warm weather arrives. Native prairie plants such as northern wheatgrass and needle-and-thread will soon spring to life, however their undesirable counterparts, such as leafy spurge, will too. Leafy spurge is a perennial invasive weed many farmers and... Read More
Update, March 29: Bill C-49 passed third reading in the Senate on Thursday afternoon, sending the bill, with the Senate's amendments, back to the House of Commons for MPs to consider after the two-week Easter break. The Senate transport committee has approved several changes to Bill C-49 that had been requested by farm groups. After... Read More
The Manitoba government has decided it will not apply a carbon tax to fuels used for heating or cooling barns and greenhouses or to run grain dryers — an exemption that was not announced when the Pallister government rolled out its carbon pricing plan last fall. The province originally said farm diesel and gasoline would... Read More