Students at regional colleges across Saskatchewan will receive up to $300,000 in scholarships over the next three years thanks to a major contribution from Viterra. The grain company announced today that it's contributing $150,000 to a new scholarship fund. Through the Saskatchewan Innovation and Opportunity Scholarship Program, colleges will be able to access up to... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Increasing nitrogen rates can actually prove detrimental if producers don't also take the time to apply fungicides, says Peter Johnson, cereals specialist with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. That's because the resulting improvements in canopy can actually increase the potential for disease development. Enter the nitrogen/fungicide duo. "That synergy is so significant," says... Read More
Dear [Reader's Name], It's hard to believe it's been a year since we didn't send the last letter. Time really does fly. So much changed on the website this year. There's a new timeline with upcoming events, a nifty Futures Market, and a behind-the-scenes members area. Oh, and we starred in a couple of videos... Read More
Imagine selling 30 000 individual cow pies (within thirty minutes of going live). That's what Cards Against Humanity was up to on Black Friday. The boxes, containing pasteurized bull feces branded as the company's best and only deal of the year, were priced at $6.00, and though CAH is known for its love of outlandish... Read More
Transparency needs to be built into the federal government’s plan to create a producer payment protection fund for Western Canada, says the chair of Keystone Agricultural Producers’ grains, oilseeds and pulses committee. Farm groups, including KAP, Grain Growers of Canada and the Canadian Canola Growers Association, are generally welcoming Bill C-48, which was introduced in... Read More
Dr. Stephen Koontz, of Colorado State University, is shining a light on a rather complicated, but incredibly important part of how cattle prices are currently set. Markets and marketing evolves over time, and the cattle industry is no different. Koontz says that the strong transition from a negotiated cash trade, to formula and forward pricing... Read More
This year, Farming Smarter brought some very powerful keynote speakers to Medicine Hat for the 2014 Farming Smarter Conference. Speakers included Michael Shermer, the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and the executive director of the Skeptics Society; William W. Wilson, a professor at North Dakota State University; Trish Sahlstrom, vice president of purchasing and distribution... Read More
A combination of a poor malt barley crop this year and a longer-term downward trend in malt barley acres is leading North American maltsters and brewers to import more barley from Europe. An estimated 70 to 80 percent of the barley crop in Western Canada was hit by rain or snow just prior to harvest,... Read More
The province of British Columbia has confirmed a tenth barn is infected with avian influenza. This news comes only two weeks after the province notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) of the detection of an H5 subtype in two barns in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, later identified as the highly pathogenic H5N2. Avian influenza has... Read More
Mixing alfalfa and sainfoin for a pasture stand has potential, as research scientists pointed out last week at the Western Canadian Grazing Conference in Edmonton. Sainfoin is a perennial forage legume. It was introduced to North America from Europe and Asia in the late 1800s and has since been used for both grazing and hay.... Read More