Columns & Production Tips

Farm Financial Planner: Purchasing the family farm

Three sons want to buy the family farm. Purchase costs could ruin the plan

By Andrew Allentuck March 9, 2018

A couple we’ll call Jack and Terri, both 63, have farmed in south central Manitoba for the last four decades. Their farm started with 320 acres; now it’s 600 acres of grain with modest profits. The problem? How Jack and Terri can migrate to retirement while accommodating their three sons’ wishes to follow Mom and […] Read more

From snow and ice to almost muddy conditions, work continued on building a new fence that separates pasture from hayfield.

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, Rancher’s Diary

Winter brings a mixed bag of weather

Rancher's Diary: Ice, snow and even rainy conditions make chores challenging

By Heather Smith Thomas March 9, 2018

January 28 We’ve had cold nights this past week. I’m glad we’re no longer calving in January. I finished revisions and updates for the new edition of my book Storey’s Guide to Training Horses. The thick ice on our lane and Andrea’s driveway is slippery and treacherous, making it tricky to get up and down […] Read more

Crops, Forages, Wheat & Chaff

Successful forage establishment

Q & A with CPS

By Nathan Trowell March 8, 2018

Q: What are the top factors for successful forage establishment? A: To grow a productive forage crop, consider important factors like soil, weeds, previous crop and herbicide residues. Identify and consider the impact of soil factors like flooding, drainage, low pH (acidity), texture and salinity that may impede establishment, productivity or species/variety selection. Control winter annual, biennial […] Read more

Wheat & Chaff

Attitude and the senior farmer

A safety audit of your farm is a great step to determine its current situation

By Canadian Agricultural Safety Association March 8, 2018

Senior farmers have experience in spades. You have seen it all. Good years, great yields, good(ish) prices. Bad years, terrible yields, awful prices. You can probably fix it all. (Almost – some of that new equipment has many computer components.) You know your land like the back of your hand. What about physical capability? Is […] Read more

Columns, Markets

A review of the market fundamentals

Back to basics — the rudiments, the essentials and the nitty gritty details of fundamentals

By Brian Wittal March 7, 2018

When talking about markets you always hear the terms technicals and fundamentals. “Technicals” refers primarily to the historical and present day charting information for a commodity. This includes examining all of the formations, trend lines, etc., to determine where futures prices are going. “Fundamentals” encompasses other aspects that can influence markets — such as politics, currencies, […] Read more

The leather tooling on this old saddle looks nice, but it is a pain to clean.

Columns

Reporter’s Notebook: The other side of ranching

A new book focuses on the role of women in Alberta’s ranching history

By Lisa Guenther March 7, 2018

In a recent column on clubroot, I suggested that Sask Crop Insurance look at a carrot-and-stick policy to crop rotations in the province. Later, I was a little worried some might interpret that part of the column as me shaking my finger at farmers with tight rotations. That wasn’t my intention. There are plenty of […] Read more

Columns, Crops, Weather

D3: The digital dumbing down

Not all information is better in the digital age. Especially data about the weather

By Les Henry March 6, 2018

We are now in “the information age.” Information, mostly good but sometimes sketchy, is literally at our fingertips. As I wrote this piece if a spelling error occurred, my software program underlined it in red. Then I quickly opened a web browser and put my spelling of the word into Google and up popped the […] Read more

Editor's column, Wheat & Chaff

Editor’s Column: Planning for the year ahead

By Leeann Minogue March 6, 2018

In February, Farm Credit Canada’s VP and chief ag economist J.P. Gervais spoke on a webinar about the state of the farm economy. It was hard to find a bright spot. While there are a lot of unknowns around factors like international trade agreements (“We have more questions than answers at this time,” he said), […] Read more

Corn, Crops, Wheat & Chaff

Growing degree days versus corn heat units

Q & A with CPS

By Jade Delaurier March 2, 2018

Q: What are growing degree days (GDD) and how do they differ from Corn Heat Units (CHU)? A: Temperature plays a significant role in the development and maturity rate of crops. A good indicator of potential maturity is growing degree days (GDD). Corn heat units (CHU) is a measurement of cumulative heat over the growing […] Read more

Wheat & Chaff

Keeping your grandchildren safe on the farm

By Canadian Agricultural Safety Association March 2, 2018

If you talk to any grandparent, they say that having children was wonderful, but having grandchildren is pure joy. There’s nothing better than having a grandchild throw their arms around your neck and whisper “I love you.” These young people are a farm’s future and a grandparent’s legacy. The farm is an incredible place for […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures hit contract highs on shock herd decline

Alberta Crop Report: Harvest more than three-quarters finished

NFU says proposed plant breeders’ rights come at farmers’ expense

GFM Network News