There are some big shifts in technology that happen that force you to move into the future. Look at television. The shift to digital forced a lot of old stalwarts to take a drive into town and look at some options or risk missing Hockey Night in Canada. Being content with rabbit ears was no... Read More
Category: Western Canada
Louis Dreyfus Canada now owns 100% of its 2,500-tonne per day Yorkton, Sask., canola crush plant. The company has bought out the minority interest from Mitsui & Co. According to a press release sent today, "Louis Dreyfus Canada and Mitsui determined, after a review of the Yorkton investment, that this transaction best served the interests... Read More
What's your technology mix? Phone and a laptop, phone, tablet and a laptop, or desktop, phone and a tablet? Or something else entirely? It's an expensive trial, this getting the right mix of useful gadgets, so certified AgNerds Shaun Haney and Peter Gredig decided to tackle the question. Inspired by Shaun's adoption of the lamely-named... Read More
There are few things more frustrating than not being able to pin down what's eating your canola. Knowing which pests feed when and their tell-tale damage cues is the first step in narrowing down the perpetrator list. Cutworms, a general category that includes several pest species, feed in the early season (late May to June)... Read More
As more Manitoba farmers add soybeans into the crop rotation, it stands to reason that pests that attack the crop will begin showing up as well. Root rots — and there are so very many species that cause this — already exist in prairie soils, but just which species are here and what to do... Read More
We should all steal a page from Pulse Canada’s inventive approach to market expansions. The organization’s new Meal Planning for 9 Billion People video campaign pushes just about every button imaginable. First, the positioning. It sounds elementary, but feeding the world with meals as Pulse Canada suggests rather than simple saying “food” is brilliant. It... Read More
When the news broke that JBS was going to buy the XL Foods Lakeside plant after the fall 2012 ecoli crisis, many were relieved that a buyer had stepped up. The plant going dark was a much worse scenario for local cattle feeders. Now that the plant deal has closed we thought it would actually... Read More
How do you view milk in your household? Do you lump it together with other beverages like juice, soda, coffee, tea? When do you drink it? Why do you drink it? What informs those decisions in your home? That's a relatively small set of questions, but important ones as the dairy industry looks at how... Read More
Statistics Canada released its first seeding intentions report for March 31, 2013 this morning. Corn, wheat and oats were given the biggest nod to acreage bumps, however, this survey was conducted to April 3 when farmers still expected spring to arrive before May. Corn acres are estimated at 2.3 million for Ontario, an increase of... Read More
It's an unfortunate thing, but farmers in each of the Prairie Provinces must think about clubroot this spring and throughout the growing season. While it's still overwhelmingly most common in the Edmonton area, clubroot spores have been confirmed in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba fields. For those more acquainted with the threat, soil testing is one... Read More