There's been no shortage of information for grain markets to digest this week, with Statistics Canada issuing its first acreage estimates since this year's crop was seeded on Wednesday and the USDA publishing its latest acreage and stocks projections on Thursday. The StatsCan report affirmed the potential for a huge lentil crop on the prairies.... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Dairy farm expansion typically focuses on adding more cows to increase production. That’s certainly the case for Monkton, Ontario-based producers Rick and Theresa Portena, but the Portenas also want a better opportunity to milk cows themselves. In this inaugural episode of Real Agriculture’s Dairy School, the Portenas’ share the strategy on why they invested in... Read More
You go out to check the cows, and you see a calf with scours — what do you do? For many producers, the first course of action involves a bolus gun. But, it's actions like this that have led Franklyn Garry, professor at Colorado State University, to unabashedly assert that "we grossly overuse antibiotics." Neonatal... Read More
Dry weather might scare you to death, but what about wet weather? And, corn leaves appear to be wrapping during the heat of the day — what's up with that? It’s all in this week’s Word, as Peter Johnson, resident agronomist for RealAgriculture, shares his advice and answers your questions in this update for the... Read More
Fuel theft is unfortunately an all-too-common problem on farms. As operations grow larger, and with more uninhabited farm yards, thieves may find fuel tanks unsupervised and unprotected. To keep fuel where it's supposed to be, Kenneth Johnson and Jace Ericson of Estevan, Saskatchewan came up with their own solution: a steel cabinet for fuel transfer... Read More
After a series of failed attempts by EU member states to reach a consensus to renew authorization for glyphosate, the European Union Commission plans to issue an 18 month extension for the popular herbicide. On Tuesday, just two days before EU authorization for glyphosate was set to expire, Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis committed to extending... Read More
There were no major surprises as Statistics Canada issued an updated set of acreage estimates on Wednesday morning, ahead of the USDA's crop reports on Thursday. Lentils and canola both saw significant increases, while cereal crop acres dipped. The report was based on a survey of 24,500 farms between May 27 and June 12, 2016.... Read More
As of October 1, 2016, Mexico will fully re-open its border to Canadian beef, ending one of the few trade restrictions that still remain from the initial discovery of a case of BSE in Canada in May 2003. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement in Ottawa on... Read More
The Canadian International Grains Institute is welcoming a farmer from Bentley, Alberta to its board of directors. Kevin Bender was elected at Cigi's annual general meeting last week, replacing the retiring Ron Nerland, a farmer from Morrin, Alberta. Jim Wilson, a farmer from Darlingford, Manitoba and Brent Watchorn, executive vice president of marketing with Richardson... Read More