Lessons from long term experiments

I have never been a huge fan of research station soil fertility work, and in my day never did an experiment on university or government land. My worry was that the residuals from unknown manure and other applications would make the data of doubtful use in “ordinary” farm fields. This past winter I had the […] Read more

Supervise kids in a safe play area

It’s sad but true. Sometimes even those eyes in the back of your head aren’t enough to keep kids safe on the farm. You’re standing right beside them, watching, and then in what seems to be slow motion, they fall, they cut a hand or much worse. And you were supervising! Supervision alone cannot prevent […] Read more


Editor’s column

It’s spring. That time of warmth and life, when farmwives’ minds turn to thoughts of… “What the heck am I going to send to the field for supper?” The real farmwives of Griffin These days there are several roles for women in agriculture and agribusiness. Women are running their own grain farms, making decisions at […] Read more

Choosing off-farm investments

What’s next? For off-farm investments, a solid answer to that question will make the difference between statements that bleed red ink and those that soar into the black

World stock markets are soaring, but we’re not out of the woods yet. There are signs of recovery in Europe where the European Central Bank (ECB) has calmed stock and bond markets. In New York, where modest trend shifts turn into stampedes, the omens are positive. And in Japan, where the Nikkei 225 average appears […] Read more


Is it time to sell part of the farm?

Some farmers are taking advantage of high prices to sell part of the farm, then enjoying farm life with less work and no debt


So far this year I have heard of at least half a dozen farmers who sold off part of their farm, kept farming debt-free and had big bucks in the bank. One farmer who did this was out of debt at age 41. Another was pushing 50 and had a million bucks in the bank. […] Read more

New CWB may market canola

The new voluntary Canadian Wheat Board may be looking to branch out to market other commodities, particularly canola, in time for the 2012-13 crop. However, the CWB is currently focused on transitioning its traditional wheat, durum, and barley marketing to an open market, and the introduction of new commodities is still forthcoming. “We expect, and […] Read more


Stewardship program ending

Federal funding for the Farm Stewardship Program is slated to end on March 31, 2013. In most provinces, there’s still time to find out if this program has anything to offer your farm. The Farm Stewardship Program has been in place since 2005, as a federal program delivered by provincial counterparts. The program is slightly […] Read more

Syngenta introduces new insecticide

Sweet, seed and field corn growers now have a new weapon to fight insect pests. Syngenta Canada Inc. has registered Voliam Xpress, a new pre-mix insecticide that delivers multiple modes of action for control of a number of yield-robbing lepidopteran pests in corn. “The multiple modes of action delivered in Voliam Xpress mean that corn […] Read more


Supervise kids in a safe play area

It’s sad but true. Sometimes even those eyes in the back of your head aren’t enough to keep kids safe on the farm. You’re standing right beside them, watching, and then in what seems to be slow motion, they fall, they cut a hand or much worse. And you were supervising! Supervision alone cannot prevent […] Read more

Lessons from long term experiments

I have never been a huge fan of research station soil fertility work, and in my day never did an experiment on university or government land. My worry was that the residuals from unknown manure and other applications would make the data of doubtful use in “ordinary” farm fields. This past winter I had the […] Read more