Front-mount self-propelled sprayers have become more common over the last decade, but the majority of sprayer manufacturers still exclusively build rear boom sprayers. For years, Miller-St. Nazianz and Hagie Mfg were the two main brands with front-mount booms. In 2010, New Holland entered the sprayer market with both front and rear boom sprayers after signing... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Wheat should be moving off the field and into the bin by now, but the ’15 wheat crop just seems to be grinding through maturity and not finishing up. As @WheatPete explains in this week’s edition of the Word, this complicates things on a few fronts, as grain fill is likely to be improved (yay!),... Read More
Parkland County Council unanimously voted today to declare the area in a state of agricultural disaster, as farmers in the area have been battling extremely dry conditions, and now, grasshoppers. “These extreme drought conditions are devastating crops across Parkland County,” said Mayor Rod Shiagec. “Council wants to make it clear to our agricultural community that... Read More
A day after National French Fry Day, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced a $1.4 million investment in potato yield research through Potatoes New Brunswick on Tuesday. The AgriInnovation Program funding will be used to identify factors that limit potato yields as part of a national effort to boost "the export competitiveness of Canadian French... Read More
There’s potential for much more composting in North American farming, say researchers at the University of Manitoba. “Turning waste into gold” was the theme for the annual field day at the U of M’s Glenlea Research Farm last week. Mario Tenuta, soil ecologist at the University of Manitoba, describes the value of farm-scale composting of... Read More
Editor's note: updated July 31st with comments from CHS. U.S. farmer cooperative CHS Inc. has entered a deal to acquire Northstar Agri Industries and its canola processing business in northern Minnesota from PICO Holdings, Inc. for approximately $127 million. Located less than 60 kilometres from the Canadian border at Hallock, Minnesota, the canola processing and... Read More
Susan Curtis, by all accounts, is the ideal partner for a beekeeper. Her multi-generation dairy farm near Joyceville, Ont., grows ample flowering crops to keep bees fed and producing honey. She was even willing to widen and improve an access road for the bee yard, all for the trade off of a few cases of... Read More
Is wheat falling behind when it comes to research advancements and attracting investment? That depends, answers Bryan Gerard, president of Gerard Seed Solutions based in Indiana, if you're comparing the dollars and cents to totals spent on corn and soy, or comparing the historic value invested in the crop. RealAgriculture's Bern Tobin caught up with... Read More
Canadian farmers who own dairy or poultry quota may not have to live with the stress that comes from marketing a product on a volatile open market, but their stress comes in another form: the worry that the federal government will pull the rug (or one of the three pillars) out from under the regulatory... Read More
It's generally agreed that most of the earthworm species native to Canada were actually wiped out during the glacial period. Since then, new species have been introduced to the country, with at least 14 non-native species now tunneling their way through Alberta's soils alone. To most of us, earthworms are an indicator of good (or... Read More