Old MacDonald had a farm but apparently it is more common than expected. Along with Old Man Smith, and Old Joe there are many seniors still farming in Canada. With only 8.2% of the operators being younger than 35, the farmer pool over the age of 55 dwarfs its younger counterparts. Many times the lack... Read More
Category: Western Canada
This week Verlyn Olson was appointed as the Alberta Minister of Agriculture by Premier Alison Redford. At first glance based on Mr. Olson's background as a lawyer and his extensive involvement in the community of Camrose there was no reason to say that it was a bad choice by the Premier. You need to be... Read More
The issue of herbicide resistance is something producers will have to continue to be vigilant about. Careful consideration needs to go into the "when" "how" and "what" to use of your individual weed control strategy. That strategy in turn needs to be balanced with a good sense of corporate responsibility about producer issues like herbicide... Read More
This years mild winter has brought a number of concerns to producers minds in the area of pests. The general thoughts and feelings being that the mild weather would either help pests to over winter more easily leading to increased numbers or that the conditions would lead to pests being out and about much earlier... Read More
This weeks episode of Saiks AgriTreks continues with Rob's tour of the agriculture industry in Argentina. This time around, Rob gives us a quick look at the Louis Dreyfus loading facility on the Parana River. The soybean processing facility itself is massive and produces biodiesel, oil, raw soybean and soybean meal for export with most... Read More
Do you eat as much meat as you used to? Many people in North America do say no, yet the the US still eats the second highest amount of meat per capita in the world according to the Economist. The average American consumers 276 pounds of meat per year while Personally I still love to... Read More
Spring wheat and barley growers, especially those in the black soil zones, may appreciate a new Axial brand from Syngenta. Axial Xtreme combines the broad-spectrum annual grass control of Axial Herbicide with the broadleaf herbicide fluroxypyr. Axial should deliver a high level of control of common annual grasses such as wild oats, green and yellow... Read More
Like a company reporting earnings to the market, StatsCan released their stocks report. The clear indication from the report is that canola stocks are very low. As we look at the current 2012 seeding season (follow #plant12), this report does not provide increased planting incentive that wasn't already there. The intended 20 million acres of... Read More
SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary has some unique things going on within its Culinary Arts programs. Tom Bornhorst, the Dean of Hospitality and Tourism provided us with a recent tour of their facilities, which includes a well maintained vegetable garden, a charcuterie lab, public market, dining room, breakfast bar, patisserie and equipment galore ranging from wood... Read More
Canola acres across the west have grown continuously over the years. The profitability of canola on the farm has not only expanded acres but also caused producers to tighten rotations. With those increased acres and short rotations the threat of disease becomes magnified. Sclerotinia is one of those diseases that, once established, can have devastating... Read More