Columns & Production Tips

Tomatoes rise stronger from ashes

Also, bank on beans to boost beneficial bacteria in your bowel

By Ted Meseyton February 2, 2024

Got a stove or fireplace where you burn wood only? Save those ashes and use them in this summer’s garden to grow some of the finest tomatoes ever. Already I can hear myself singing: “Oh it must be the tomatoes, maybe strawberries and homegrown potatoes, but I still think it must be tomatoes.” Those are […] Read more

Columns, Editor's column

Editor’s Rant: A process story

By Dave Bedard January 31, 2024

Editor’s note, Jan. 30, 2024: This item was written and went to press before Bill C-234 came back up for discussion in the House of Commons on Jan. 29, in consideration of the Senate’s amendments. Some decades ago my grandmother and I were having a conversation about what I hoped to do in life. If […] Read more

The shape of the instrument has changed, but the air fryer uses old cooking methods.

Columns, Farm Life

Cooking with hot air

By dee Hobsbawn-Smith January 25, 2024

I am a purist. I like classic methods and techniques with proven results. And I love knowing that what I am doing in my Prairie farm kitchen has been done for centuries by others in kitchens far different from mine. There are only so many ways of transforming raw food into a meal. Regardless of […] Read more

small child peering into hub of back tractor wheel

Equipment, Wheat & Chaff

Getting back to basics for a safer new year

Runovers and rollovers are a leading cause of on-farm deaths

By Canadian Agricultural Safety Association January 25, 2024

As we dive into the New Year, let’s keep it simple. Instead of setting big goals, how about we focus on doing everyday tasks right and safe? Take, for example, operating tractors — something pretty common on the farm. Tractors are the MVPs of farming. From field work to feeding the livestock to cleaning snow, […] Read more

parents and an adult child discussing finances

Columns, Farm Life

Get the tough and tender transition conversations started in 2024

A farm’s founders may not want the embarrassment if they see a personal net worth lower than expected

By Elaine Froese January 25, 2024

Seven years ago, here’s what I said about getting transition conversations started: Show up as adults to attack the issues, do not attack the person who is delivering ideas for change. Understand transition is a journey of many plans, with communication as the foundation. Spend some quiet time with yourself thinking about what you truly […] Read more

A “little potato” crop at six to nine tons an acre in central Alberta does not need the same extra moisture as seed potatoes and can be planted directly into standing canola stubble in the spring.

Columns, Crops

‘Sustainable’ ag systems for Prairie croplands need clearer definition

By Ieuan Evans January 23, 2024

The word “sustainable” has become one of the most misused words in agricultural information systems. What we have to realize on Canada’s Prairies is that “sustainable” really means farmers maintain the status quo for good, achievable, economic agricultural practices on their cropland. What may be sustainable agricultural systems for Eastern Canada or the north-central United […] Read more

Canada’s calf crop doesn’t move through expansion and contraction as it does in the U.S., but over the next year, we may see the Canadian herd mirror U.S. expansion.

Cattleman’s Corner, Columns, Markets

Is it time for beef cow herd expansion?

Prices for calves have been strong, but it usually takes a year of high calf prices before expansion starts

By Jerry Klassen January 22, 2024

Feeder cattle have been trading near historical highs over the past six months. I’ve received many emails and inquiries from cattle producers asking if there is still an opportunity to expand their herds. Producers also ask if they should buy now or wait until spring. Medium-quality bred cows have been trading in the range of […] Read more

Columns

Grainews columnists I have known

Part 1 of an intermittent series. In this instalment: Alf Bryan

By Les Henry January 20, 2024

Younger readers may not know how Grainews got started. The first edition was in 1975 and the publisher was United Grain Growers (UGG). UGG was a farmer owned grain company with shares – it was not a co-op. The first editor was John Clark and he recruited active farmers to write it as it was […] Read more

Columns, Editor's column, Wheat & Chaff

Editor’s Rant: In good company

By Dave Bedard January 20, 2024

So for weeks I’d been planning to fill this space with a tirade about last month’s cynical-yet-predictable developments in Ottawa on Bill C-234, but when Linamar went public with its plan to buy Bourgault Industries I got distracted by developments closer to home, so to speak. In case you missed the news shortly before Christmas, […] Read more

samples of durum wheat in jars on shelves

Cereals, Wheat & Chaff

Shedding new light on spoiling crops

By Grainews Staff January 16, 2024

A few pages from now you’ll see Jim Timlick check in on the topic of grain storage with Dr. Digvir Jayas, one of the Prairies’ best known experts in that field of research. Earlier this summer Dr. Jayas was named the president of the University of Lethbridge, after a storied 38-year stint at the University […] Read more

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