Columns & Production Tips

This photo compares two  Invigor varieties in the fall of 2018, L233P and L230. You can see some pod shatter.

The straight up on straight cut canola

Lessons learned after straight cutting canola on an Alberta farm for six growing seasons

By Sarah Hoffmann February 14, 2019

Since 2013 we have exclusively straight cut canola on our farm and we’ve learned a lot along the way. Some years the “straw” came out of the back of the combine looking more like silage and we learned that if the soil moisture profile was still full at the end of August we should desiccate […] Read more

Columns

Farm Financial Planner: Selling to get out from under debt

With no farming children and little income flowing in from the farm, it’s time to sell 

By Andrew Allentuck February 14, 2019

A couple we’ll call Harry, 74, and Anne, 72, have been farming in central Manitoba for four decades and would like to retire. They have 1,600 acres — 600 for grain and the remainder for pasture and hay. Their children, two sons and two daughters, have careers away from the family farm. The problem: pay […] Read more

News, Wheat & Chaff

Agritechnica 2019 tour is a go

By Leeann Minogue February 14, 2019

Agritechnica, held every second year in Hanover, Germany, is the world’s largest farm show. In 2017, Grainews arranged a bus tour to take a group of readers to see Agritechnica and a list of other German agricultural and tourist sites. We had so much fun, we’re doing it again. This year’s trip runs from November […] Read more

Editor's column, Wheat & Chaff

Editor’s Column: Keeping current, staying relevant

By Leeann Minogue February 12, 2019

We ran one of Andrew Allentuck’s Farm Financial Planner columns in the January 8 issue of Grainews. The story included a note about Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs). I’m sure you know that the Canadian government allows every Canadian to deposit cash or stocks into a TFSA every year, then allows that account to grow, […] Read more

When you sell straw or hay off your farm, have you ever considered the fate of the nutrients contained in the hay or straw?

Columns, Crops

Selling nutrients: the last straw

Practical Research: How to degrade productive cropland by selling the nutrients after the harvest season

By Ieuan Evans February 12, 2019

Sandy soil areas are not uncommon on the Canadian Prairies, especially west and north of Edmonton, my home area. It made me wince when I saw endless lines of wheat straw bales on countless sandy fields this fall. Technically speaking, straw should never be sold on any kind of cropland unless there is a very […] Read more

Components from several pieces of equipment went into  the design of this barbed-wire roller,  but the well-built  device worked well.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Farm Life

Bales are home, fence almost complete

Other than during a short Christmas break, farm projects continued

By Heather Eppich February 11, 2019

So far, the winter has been open and the weather has been decent with just a few days here and there with cold temperatures and a terrible wind. On Dec. 9 we finally got a chance to get back to our hay hauling. We hauled hay consistently for about 10 days, getting it all home […] Read more

Crops, Wheat & Chaff

Can copper reduce ergot levels in wheat?

Q & A with Nutrien Ag Solutions

By Jade Delaurier February 11, 2019

Q: Can the application of copper reduce ergot levels in wheat? A: Ergot is a worldwide disease that affects cereal crops such as wheat, barley, triticale, rye, and oats. Ergot is promoted in years with cool, damp weather conditions in late spring and early summer. When a crop is under stress, the flowering period is […] Read more

Columns, Crops

Les Henry’s stubble soil moisture map, as of Nov. 1, 2018

There’s more red ink (dry areas) than we’d like to see on this year’s map

By Les Henry February 8, 2019

Each year when I make up this very general map, I keep hoping for a young generation to come along with better technology and smarts to make a better map. I now see a very bright light at the end of the tunnel. My December 12, 2018, article talked about the soil moisture sensor probes […] Read more

Columns, Marketing

2018 was a year with potential

Most commodity prices followed the same trend in 2018, hitting their highs in May

By Brian Wittal February 6, 2019

Winter is the time to review what happened last year, and take those learnings to heart as we prepare and plan for the coming year. First, let’s look at the Canadian dollar in 2018. The dollar has a major impact on both the costs of farming and the returns on commodity sales. Currency risk needs […] Read more

Columns, Hart Attacks

Shopping gets just a little too easy

I am still a novice at on-line shopping, but I need to pace myself

By Lee Hart February 5, 2019

I am not sure what experiences are like in the rural world, but I am finding this on-line shopping idea very handy (not sure if that is a good or bad thing.) I know is not necessarily a brand new idea, but being a late bloomer in many aspects of technology, it has only been […] Read more

Daily Network News

Moroccan fertilizer maker OCP expects output to drop 30 per cent in Q2, sources say

Feed Grain Weekly: Demand rises despite war uncertainty

How farmers can manage stress, anxiety during spring seeding