Columns & Production Tips

An acre of such soil may have up to 1,000 lbs. of earthworms, 2,500 lbs. of fungi, 1,500 lbs. of bacteria and up to 1,000 lbs. of protozoa and insects — most fully active in June and July.

Understanding soil organic matter

Do you know your crop residues from your soil organic matter?

By Ieuan Evans February 3, 2020

The word “organic,” just like “environmental” has become confusing over the last 20 or 30 years. Organic food for example? All the food we eat is organic (except salt or other minerals). All farming activities are environmental, but every misinformed urbanite calls him or herself an environmentalist. “Soil organic matter” is made up of a […] Read more

Calves in outdoor hutches will need extra feed, particularly during the coldest days of winter.

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, The Dairy Corner

Hutch-housed calves need extra milk replacer in winter

There is a limit to how much cold that calves can handle

By Peter Vitti January 31, 2020

Despite the trend to build heated barns to raise young stock, there are still lots of outside hutches and cold barns to feed pre-weaned dairy calves. Many of these calves are raised solely on commercial milk replacer. As a dairy nutritionist, I review many of these milk replacer-feeding programs and make the necessary changes to […] Read more

Crops, Wheat & Chaff

Choosing a pulse inoculant

Q & A with Nutrien Ag Solutions

By Stacie Yaremko January 30, 2020

Q. What type of pulse inoculant should I use on my farm? A: When choosing an inoculant, first select the correct species of rhizobia. There are many species, each linked to a specific set of pulse crop hosts. For example, the rhizobia species Bradyrhizobia japonicum will colonize soybean roots but not pea roots. Inoculant formulation […] Read more

Our rough collie, Duff, managed to keep up with the side-by-side pretty well, though he refuses to ride on the toboggan.

Editor's column, Wheat & Chaff

Editor’s Column: From sledding fun to spoiled canola

By Leeann Minogue January 30, 2020

Winter is in full swing, with large-scale farmer meetings going on in Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg. Manitoba farmers who make time to go to CropConnect will have a chance to vote on whether or not their farmer-funded commodity groups should merge into one large group. In Alberta, barley and wheat growers will discuss some ideas […] Read more

As winter began to settle in and water began to freeze up it was good to get all the cattle home.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Livestock

Getting hay and cattle home for the winter

Eppich News: Plenty of projects to complete before the snow flies

By Heather Eppich January 27, 2020

With haying season finished in early November it was finally time to start some winter projects. Gregory and John worked on cleaning the combines, swathers, and the baler and put them away for winter. They also had to work on the JD 4020, our feeding tractor, and get it ready for feeding and bedding the […] Read more

Columns

The Sky is not falling, Part 2

Free markets are best equipped to find solutions to global problems 

By Herman VanGenderen January 27, 2020

Developed economies operate under a democratic, capitalist, free-market system. Developing countries often have socialist, autocratic, controlled-market systems — although many are becoming freer. It seems obvious to me which system is superior, yet the continuing tug on free-market economies is towards socialism, because “profit” is considered a dirty word implying that one party took advantage […] Read more

Columns, News

What to consider when bringing a new spouse to your farm

By Leeann Minogue January 20, 2020

When someone on a family farm brings home a new spouse it’s cause for celebration, a step toward passing the farm to the next generation. Of course, there are lots of legal and business decisions to make, but then everything is fine, right? No. There are several ways things can go wrong, from arguments about […] Read more

'Winter combining' (read further down for more info) This photo is reproduced with permission of the Rosetown Eagle and the Rosetown Library Archives. A shout out for our local weeklies that provide local information not available anywhere else.

Columns, Crops

Les Henry: Where will Prairie agriculture be in 2030?

Les Henry predicts eight changes coming to agriculture in the next decade

By Les Henry January 20, 2020

At the start of a new decade it is time to take stock and think ahead to what our industry might be like at the end of this decade. The last time I tried such an exercise was in December 1979, looking ahead to what the 1980s would bring. I predicted that at the end […] Read more

Columns, News

Those pesky pigeons

Turn your on-farm nuisance into a new hobby for the New Year

By Ieuan Evans January 20, 2020

Are there any farmsteads on the Canadian Prairies that do not have a flock of circling pigeons looking for spoiled grain? Believe it or not, pigeons were the first birds to be domesticated many thousands of years ago. Worldwide, countless millions of pigeons are kept for racing, ornamentation, fun and food. There are some 310 […] Read more

Columns, Markets

Don’t bet the farm with your grain marketing strategy

Taking a disciplined approach can bring more financial rewards

By Brian Wittal January 17, 2020

It must have been farmers who invented Texas Hold ’em Poker. I recently took part in a poker fun night with about 40 farmers. After playing for an hour, you see a lot of similarities between the luck of the cards and the highs and lows of farming. You start the year out in the […] Read more

Daily Network News

Russian grain ship believed sunk in Ukrainian drone attack found, towed to shore, TASS says

Striking JBS workers to return to Colorado plant on promise of talks

Canadian finance minister talks supply chain integrity, pork tariffs with Chinese vice premier