Good planting conditions and favourable weather in the U.S. has led to corn prices dipping slightly over the last week. Corn joins wheat prices on the downtrend all thanks to a bearish global picture. Old crop soybean prices have popped recently, hitting 11-month highs as crush margins and meat prices in China are improving while... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Saskatchewan's Grain Bag and Twine Recycling Pilot Project began in March of 2011 and has diverted a total of 730,500 lb of plastic out of landfills. Last month, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart announced the project would receive an additional $100,000 for 2014. “We are pleased to extend the... Read More
I promise at some point to jump off this Rotation Bandwagon and start talking about something else agronomy-related, but for now, humour me while I beat this ailing-but-still-alive-but-just-barely horse. Where was I? Oh, yes. Rotation. In my last podcast, featuring Randy Kutcher, we learned many things about plant pathology — how genetic resistance to a... Read More
Every year, North American farmers adopt more technology, enabling precision, efficiency and, in some cases, more holiday time. Even those with intensive management systems can control and monitor some of the operation from a distance. This is certainly becoming the case with irrigation systems, with a few apps and precision technologies now competing on the... Read More
When it comes to nutrition, it’s safe to say modern farmers are diet conscious about their animals. Farm animals have a whole industry looking after their best interests. Professionals such as animal nutritionists make sure livestock don’t make bad nutrition decisions. How many humans can say the same? Granted, that option’s mostly taken away from... Read More
In a perfect world, the soybean plant would pop up out of the ground, grow some leaves and then really stretch a bit before setting where that first pod will form. The reality for many western Canadian farmers, however, is that even in a decent year, our Prairie springs are quite cool — first pod... Read More
There seems to be a stigma around exercise in many rural communities: if you're working hard, you won't need to run (making those who do actually appear lazy). Perhaps it's a belief stemming from our ancestry. Farmers worked the land on the end of a rough plough, threshed and stooked with little help from machines... Read More
Do you remember when you decided you wanted to pursue a career in agriculture? Or were you someone who never really chose it, it was just what you had always done? An increasing number of individuals from a non-farming background go on to work in the agriculture industry — it's a natural byproduct of a... Read More
Have you walked your canola fields shortly after emergence only to find several seedlings struggling and dying off or found seeds rotting in the furrow? Even treated seed can't fully overcome the pressure of the seedling disease complex endemic to all of Western Canada's canola growing region, especially if canola is seeded too deep or…Read More
Let's all take a moment to confess our less-than-safe bad habits — sending a quick text while driving, donning only the minimum of safety gear while mixing chemical or giving the wee ones a ride on the tractor or quad, even if there isn't a seat for them. Are all of these excusable because, hey,... Read More