NAFTA-USMCA

The USMCA is stupid

Only four words on this trade deal: 
bad, bad, bad and very bad

I hate to say that anything that comes out of Donald Trump’s U.S. government is a good thing, so I will wait for more feedback before I decide if the new NAFTA agreement — now known as the new USMCA (U.S., Mexico, Canada-Agreement) is a really good thing or not. Maybe since my facts are […] Read more

Tillage for better crop establishment

Tillage for better crop establishment

Q & A with Nutrien Ag Solutions

Q. Can tillage help with better crop establishment or fertility management? A: Crop establishment can be impacted by soil moisture and temperature, especially in areas where more warm-season crops such as soybeans and corn are grown. High soil residue levels act as an insulating layer to the soil and reduce the rate of soil temperature […] Read more


The financial failure of a farm can cause added friction, especially when it comes time to transition to the next generation.

No farm profits mean a change of plan is needed

This family’s generational ownership shift plan doesn’t work without farm profits

A family we’ll call the Browns has farmed in southern Manitoba for four decades. Over the first 30 years, they grew their farm to 2,000 acres of pasture and grain. Today, Jack Brown is 67 and Molly, his wife, is 66. Their son, Max, and his wife Chloe have three children under 10. Farm income […] Read more

Stock market chart on LCD screen. Selective focus.

Is market level relevant? If you’re an investor, not a speculator, market predictions are futile

Investing for Fun and Profit with Herman VanGenderen

I am about to question one of the sacred beliefs of market pundits. It is my belief that market level isn’t very important to our investing success. What? Does that make sense? First, let’s look at how accurate market predictions tend to be. Reading about the topic leads me to believe the prediction success rate […] Read more


There’s always more to learn

Toban Dyck is all in, learning what he needs to know about farming at full speed

I didn’t think to turn on the bin fans last night. I needed to be told. And when my dad asked what I’d be growing next year, it completely escaped me that fall is when I should make that decision. Jamie and I have been on the farm for six years; land renters for nearly […] Read more

This photo was taken on August 1, 2009. There was great crop growth, from old fashioned methods.

Cover crops and green manure

In the Palliser Triangle, cover crops aren’t the answer in a dry cycle

The current interest in soil health issues has expanded our thinking and spawned much research and new farm-scale work with many new-to-us plant species. Cover crops are planted in the non-commercial season to add diversity to the mix and juice up the soil organisms that go along with the different plants. In wet years, cover […] Read more


Submitting seed for germination testing

Submitting seed for germination testing

Q & A with Nutrien Ag Solutions

Q: When is the best time to submitseed for germination testing? A: A seed germination test is a critical first step in determining the viability of seed for planting a new crop. It helps determine if the seed should be planted, and helps establish a seeding rate that achieves target plant populations in the field. […] Read more

It didn’t take much disturbance to raise the dust during a tillage demonstration at the 2018 Ag In Motion farm show.

Well here is a game changing concept

Profitable crop production with little or no added inputs. Is someone talking nonsense?

Talk about an interesting contrast in messages! In one week during my summer travels I attended a first-in-Canada Soil Health School in Manning (Alberta Peace River region) and a few days later I was eating dust at a tillage demonstration at the Ag In Motion farm show at Langham, Sask. My old brain had to […] Read more


One of the positives of Twitter folks in agriculture is that often other people in ag intervene when an attack is aimed at a specific person.

Reporter’s Notebook: Fear and anger on the internet

Social media is great for sharing information, but there is a downside

In my last column, I wrote about how rapid change in how we communicate is changing society and encouraging fear. Fear easily morphs into anger and hatred and there’s no shortage of either on the internet. I’d love to write that the online ag community is free from such nastiness. But the ag community is […] Read more

Landscape featuring a harvested grain field

Watch the grain markets this fall

Outlining some of the factors influencing post-harvest prices

Hot and dry weather across a large part of the Prairies advanced crops and brought harvest on ahead of schedule. Yields are variable, but the expectation is that we will end up with an average crop, based on 10-year average yields. Early reports of high protein up to 17 per cent in wheat has already […] Read more