I'm fresh off a very long, full day at both Pulse Days at Crop Week and the Crop Production Show at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon, and I thought I'd quickly jot down a few of my observations from the show: Farmers are feeling good about the year ahead, but strong crop prices complicate rotation decisions... Read More
Category: Western Canada
I am attending CropWeek 2013 in Saskatoon this week which always involves some great discussions in the sessions and the hallway. I had a grain /seed industry insider ask me a really interesting question today. "Do we really need to re-create the wheel with wheat? Does wheat royalty collection for research really need to be... Read More
Any way you look at it, 90 million dollars is a lot of money. That's the amount the Western Grains Research Foundation has accrued over the years due to the railways exceeding their revenue cap. That's sad news for farmers who paid much more than they should have for transport, but the good news is... Read More
The Canadian Grain Commission recently released a summary of the feedback it received regarding impending changes to its user fee system. Industry stakeholders, including farmers, were asked to submit their questions, critiques and suggestions for changes to the not only the user fees, but also changes to the Canada Grains Act. Generally, there seems to... Read More
There are several ways to measure the costs and benefits of crop rotations. Weed population changes, soil organic matter building or depleting, yield bumps or total energy used are all different ways of gauging the relative advantages of different rotations. Dr. Perry Miller, professor at the University of Montana, has done extensive work into crop... Read More
It can seem like an efficient way to solve two problems at once — add an insecticide in with the fungicide on canola and, voila, all your pest troubles go away. But not so fast. While applying an insecticide when pest insect levels are at or above threshold may be the right move, adding an... Read More
If ever we needed a new curse word, let me humbly suggest kochia. If you thought it was tough to kill before, it's quickly becoming even more difficult. As Clark Brenzil, provincial weed specialist with Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, explains, not only should kochia be taken off the label of every Group 2 herbicide, it's... Read More
It sounds a little out there — plants talking to each other, warning them to arm themselves against predators and biotic stress, but it's real. The research into plant communication is actually decades old, but for some time it was largely ignored by the research community. That is, until now. Rob Saik, president of the... Read More
Ever wonder what the Canola Council of Canada does and who is involved? RealAgriculture.com caught up with Patti Miller, president of the council, to ask her those questions and many more. For example, 2012 was in some ways a fantastic year for the crop — a huge number of acres went in and planned crush... Read More
New Year's Eve held much excitement in U.S. politics, not because of any ball drop or extravagant party, but because of a late-night crunch session to hammer out a tax bill that would pull the U.S. from the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" of mandatory cost cutting and tax hikes. Included in the last-minute agreement was an... Read More