12 amazing things I saw on my road trip

A friend of mine who works on the oil rigs says he doesn’t like being out on the prairie because there is nothing to see. But I beg to differ. I just got back from an amazing road trip from Calgary to Neerlandia (north of Edmonton) and the drive there and back was like a […] Read more

Things you need to know about weed control

Now here is something you really don’t want in your field. No, I’m not talking about Kelly Bennett, portfolio marketing leader, cereal herbicides with Dow Agrosciences (pictured left). I’m talking about the very robust wild buckwheat plant he is holding. Bennett, a Saskatchewan farm boy who has been with DAS for 25 years, made the […] Read more


Who’s running this place?

Two western Canadian research and commodity organizations have announced the appointments of key management positions. At the Western Grains Research Foundation based in Saskatoon, Garth Patterson has been named executive director, taking over a position previously held by Lanette Kuchenski, who resigned earlier this year. Prior to joining WGRF, Patterson has been well known in […] Read more

Vertical tillage field day

The sheer spectacle of seeing six high-horsepower, four-wheel drive tractors working in one field at the same time made attending last week’s vertical tillage field day worth the trip; everything else was a bonus. Held near Lipton, Saskatchewan, and organized by Tri-Star Farm Services (www.tristarfarms.com), implements and factory reps from three manufacturers were on hand. […] Read more


Get ready to feed the world

If forecasts for feeding the world are even half correct, farmers in Western Canada will be growing wheat and canola not only on every acre, but in their bathtubs just to try and meet global demand. You hear these figures on where world population is headed over the next 40 years and for me it […] Read more



The far east heads west

There have been several bits of interesting news trickling out of Europe in the last few weeks—and I’m not talking about the mayhem that struck Norway. I’m referring to recent developments in the farm machinery world. While both John Deere and AGCO are set to unveil new products to the media at events in the […] Read more

Bryce is officially off the sympathy list

  Okay, so what is wrong with this picture?  Eighteen people and three dogs show up for a gruelling hike into the BC wilderness and then 40 people show up for the evening summer yard party that followed. I am sensing a lack of commitment here.  Actually, there was really total commitment by all relatives and […] Read more


Pickup projects

Pickup trucks have been on my radar a lot this past week. At home, I’ve finally decided that my 1995 three-quarter ton, 4X4, diesel needs a facelift. It’s going to have to stay around for a while, so it might as well look nice—or at least nicer. A little less than two years ago I […] Read more

Agricultural research never takes a holiday

I don’t know if this is happening to anyone else, but as I seem to be traveling more now with a 60ish-age crowd, even on holidays, the conversation inevitability steers around to either grandchildren or pension plans. And since I have neither on the go in my life at the moment it is sometimes a […] Read more