swathing barley in the field

Farm management: Getting from good to great

Farming is a numbers game. Make sure you 
make the most of the details on your farm


In March, I spent four days traveling from Grande Prairie to Lethbridge as part of the Leading Edge Farm Management series sponsored by the Alberta Canola Producers Commission and I had the good fortune to be in the company of some very accomplished individuals. Dr. Danny Klinefelter from Texas A+M University who, I would say, […] Read more

blackleg infection on a canola stem

Does it pay to spray fungicide for blackleg?

When you’re looking to guard your canola against blackleg, does it pay to spray a fungicide? The short answer is yes — especially if you’re running a tight canola-wheat rotation. Short rotations put you at the highest risk of developing a blackleg infection, since the fungus can overwinter on diseased canola stubble year over year […] Read more


canola crop on a computer screen

Technology brings the world to your office

With Google Earth, visit the whole planet from the comfort of your home

In my youth we pounded a lot of pavement both summer and winter. Winter was for short courses and other extension events and summer was for research — soil fertility and drilling holes all over for soil salinity work. It is my great pleasure to have driven every mile of every Saskatchewan highway in the […] Read more

water irrigation equipment

Manage water to optimize wheat, canola production

Use your irrigation system to its full potential by asking these four question about water needs

Often the most limiting nutrient in irrigated crop production is water! Many irrigation farmers tend to under-irrigate their crops, which limits yield potential. Often the main reasons for under-irrigation are simply not checking soil moisture frequently and starting the irrigation system too late. Knowing the answers to these four questions can help. 1. How much water does […] Read more


farmer in a tractor cab

Who’s handling your farm data? Keep an eye on this U.S. model

Data is becoming an industry. Whether you like it or not, you’re part of it


We talk about environmental stewardship, land stewardship and animal stewardship in agriculture, but there’s not a lot of discussion about data stewardship. And that’s too bad because there are some good reasons to have control over who accesses our data. I’m really talking about Big Data here — the move by businesses to collect mountains of data […] Read more

three combines at sunset

Bigger farms, bigger farmers, but who owns the land?

There have been big farms since people started farming. But they aren’t 
immune to market forces. Ownership rules can have an impact too


The recent demise of big farms like One Earth and Broadacre has been much in the news lately. This column predicted just that when the trend started several years ago. Big corporate farms with decisions made in the corner office of the 51st floor in Toronto or Calgary are destined for failure. The three-piece suit crowd […] Read more


woman standing in a field of wheat

Women advancing in agriculture

Sarah Weigum’s advice for young female Grainews readers in the ag industry


In the summer of 2011 I went to a combine clinic put on by our dealership. I had returned to the farm only a few months earlier and was still finding my footing in a new-again world. There was one other woman at this clinic and I remember thinking, “I don’t want to sit by […] Read more

flea beetle damage on a leaf

Timing your insecticide application for flea beetles

Get out and scout your fields early to look for defoliation and bite holes

All things being equal, you want to come out of the season with as much of the plant stand you came in with. However, heavy flea beetle pressure during the cotyledon to the first or second true-leaf stage can take a big bite out your final yield. The secret to success in dealing with flea […] Read more


green wheat and stormy sky

Wheat Growers still going strong

In recent issues of Grainews I’ve been using this space to write about some of the many farm organizations working on our behalf. I’ve covered levy-collecting organizations, general farm organizations and how soybeans are represented. Now, it’s time to look at some of the political organizations. Let’s start with the right — the Western Canadian […] Read more

dairy cattle in a stall

Mud is a hotbed of disease and poor eating habits for dairy cattle

As little as four inches of mud can slow performance and it can 
be an excellent environment for disease affecting cattle health


Once I was checking the spring ration for a dairy producer who raised a group of replacement dairy heifers in a drylot. The mud was about a half metre deep and with each step toward the feeder, it was slow going. About half-way along, my boot got stuck and by struggling, I buried it. Abandoning […] Read more