A lab has been established in Guelph to screen boars with a genetic abnormality that results in smaller litters. The abnormality happens naturally, when cells divide. “Sometimes, the genes just don’t line up the way they should when cells are developing,” says University of Guelph Prof. Allan King, who established the lab. That results in... Read More
Category: Western Canada
JBS has announced a deal to sell Lakeside Feeders at Brooks, Alberta back to its previous owner, Nilsson Bros. JBS Food Canada Inc, the Canadian subsidiary of the scandal-plagued Brazilian meat industry giant, announced on Friday that it has an agreement to sell its 75,000 head feed yard and adjacent farmland to MCF Holdings, a... Read More
Grain prices over the first two weeks of July are still swinging a bit wildly as the market is trying to price in the recent heat. Scorching temperatures hit most of North America before the USDA came out with their July WASDE report on July 12th, 2017. The report was met with some bearish skepticism,... Read More
With variable conditions across the prairies, pulse crop development also varies, but many fields are either in flowering, or beginning to flower. In this Pulse School episode, Robyne Bowness-Davidson, pulse research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, fills us in on what she's been seeing so far this season, and what growers should be keeping... Read More
After sliding for the last few weeks, the cattle market clawed back some ground this week, in U.S. dollar terms, at least. As Anne Wasko of Gateway Livestock notes in our latest Beef Market Update, the basis for Canadian cattle values has quietly flipped. "Instead of our cash cattle prices trading above the U.S. equivalent... Read More
The decision to spray for aphids in cereal crops is complicated, as it requires not only scouting for and estimating aphid populations at a given moment, but predicting how those numbers will change due to weather and natural predators. The Cereal Aphids Manager App currently in development through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada aims to help... Read More
Farmers, researchers and government policy people are in Saskatoon today for the Prairie Agriculture Carbon Summit, hosted by the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan. As APAS president Todd Lewis explains in the interview below, the intent of the conference is to drive a conversation about the role farm practices have in reducing greenhouse gas emissions... Read More
Four groups concerned the Manitoba government's carbon tax plan will "negatively impact the provincial economy, and do little to reduce Manitoba’s greenhouse gas emissions" have formed a coalition to oppose the plan. The coalition includes the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and AxeTheCarbonTax.ca. They held... Read More
The Canadian Grain Commission has confirmed its user fees will be reduced as of August 1, 2017, in an effort to minimize further accumulation in the CGC's user fee surplus. “Reducing these fees means that millions of dollars will remain in the grain sector, where it can benefit producers and grain handling companies," notes Patti... Read More
A stretch of sunny, dry weather in Ontario has soybeans on the comeback trail. That also means that soybean fungicide timing is sneaking up on many growers as the crop picks up steam in mid July. In this edition of RealAgriculture Soybean School, BASF agronomist Ken Currah takes a closer look at the soybean fungicide... Read More