I spent much of my Christmas holiday in rural Alberta, where gossip of snow-induced roof collapse was becoming incredibly common. In most instances, more than just a roof was impacted, with reports of damaged machinery and livestock losses. So, for the first time in my life, I helped shovel snow from an altitude. (And for... Read More
Category: Western Canada
It’s calving season. You waited – we've delivered! Our second podcast is up and available for download! This podcast features an interview with Travis Peardon, a livestock specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, about how last year's harsh winter is still affecting ranch management. The rest of the podcast is a blur of activity,... Read More
January 9, 2014 - The Canola Council of Canada (CCC) announced its new target for Canada's canola industry earlier today, in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The CCC aims to increase the demand for canola, create a stable and open trade environment and sustainably and profitably increase production of canola to 26M tonnes by 2025. The CCC's new... Read More
Consumers want food that’s as cheap as possible. True, they want safe food, too, and all those other features such as wholesome, nutritious and environmentally sound food. But mainly, they want food cheap. The huge increase in grocery items at big box stores and discount outlets bears that out. Exceptions exist, particularly with the growing... Read More
Every conference season, presentation after presentation reminds farmers of the cost of too-short crop rotations. Increased disease pressure, insect infestations and nutrient depletion of soil all weigh on yields in tight rotations. Agronomic decisions like these commonly play in to the decision on what to seed next on each field, but 2014 is shaping up... Read More
While the fundamentals seem to hint at conditions being right for the Canadian cow herd to begin an expansion phase, it’s not happening. Cull rates of about 10% would signal ranchers building their herds; 2013 numbers will end up somewhere about 15%, a number more synonymous with liquidation than expansion. According to Brian Perillat, senior... Read More
Farmers can look forward to a new LEMKEN compact-disc for the 2014 growing season, as the company rolls out the Rubin 12 compact-disc harrow for primary tillage applications. Designed to work at depths of 5 to 8 inches, the Rubin 12 delivers intensive, uniform mixing and crumbling in one pass – even in very heavy... Read More
ATB is celebrating its 75th anniversary and as a part of that they are sharing some very special memorable belt buckles. The commemorative limited edition buckles were handcrafted by Alberta native Troy Fisher. Each farmer or rancher was nominated by their regional relationship manager based on their contribution to the local community and agriculture; size,... Read More
With a nod to tradition, Cereals Canada has announced Winnipeg, Manitoba, as the chosen city to house the headquarters of the organization. "A great deal of thought and consideration went into making this decision," says Greg Porozni, Cereals Canada chair, in a press release. "Through this process it became clear to us that Winnipeg will... Read More
Research out of the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) suggests that radio frequency identification (RFID) tags inserted into an animal's ear cold not only require more strength to install, they are also much weaker than those installed at room temperature. These findings will no doubt be a warm message on a cold day to producers... Read More