Columns & Production Tips

Seven strategies of successful farms

Focusing on costs, risks, and your farm’s budget and financial plan

By Brian Wittal March 12, 2020

I’ve been discussing the top seven practices of successful farm management. In this article, let’s focus on the last three. No. 5 on the list is knowing your cost of production. I break costs of production out into three components: direct, variable and fixed costs. Direct costs are those expenses that have a direct impact […] Read more

This photo was taken July 25,2017. It is a good quarter section that has changed hands and belongs to an absentee owner. It was “planted down,” and the result a few years later was a decent stand of bromegrass. This looked like a fair seed crop. But it was later baled as a hay crop.

Columns, Crops

Les Henry: Fertilizing for forage yields

For higher grass yields, fertilize it like a crop

By Les Henry March 11, 2020

We often hear “plant it down” when a field is not performing well for annual crops. That may mean simply planting some grass and accepting hay yields determined by the moisture in a given year. It is not uncommon for such stands to perform poorly and then be utilized as pasture. There are many situations […] Read more

Columns

Commodity booms and busts: Part 1

Commodity price highs and lows are tightly tied to the economic cycle

By Herman VanGenderen March 10, 2020

The U.S. stock market had one of its worst decades on record from 2000 to 2009, even worse than from 1930 to 1939, averaging just 1.2 per cent returns annually. Commodities, on the other hand, had a fantastic decade. U.S. stock markets had a great decade from 2010 to 2019, averaging 14.2 per cent annual […] Read more

Mary and Roelof van Benthem, dairy farmers from central Alberta are regional Outstanding Young Farmer finalists for 2020.

Columns, Hart Attacks

Alberta kicks off Outstanding Young Farmers year

Just when I thought I knew everything about agriculture

By Lee Hart March 10, 2020

A bright young dairy farming couple from central Alberta is kicking off the 2020 awards year for Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers. Roelof and Mary van Benthem of Spruceview, about 30 km west of Innisfail, were selected in February as Alberta’s regional nominees for the national awards. They are the first of seven regional nominees from […] Read more

News, Wheat & Chaff

CN rail safety initiative focuses on grain truck drivers

By Canadian Agricultural Safety Association March 9, 2020

“It’ll never happen to me.” That’s a phrase that far too many of us have thought far too often when it comes to railway incidents. It’s that mindset the CN Police Service is looking to change with a new safety program focusing on a specific group that frequently encounters railway crossings: grain truck drivers. After […] Read more

Columns

Year and decade financial review: Part 3

The best market predictions are based on probabilities calculated from past performance

By Herman VanGenderen March 6, 2020

The last two columns reviewed Canadian and U.S. decade-long economic and investment performance. Successful investing takes a long-term approach; understanding the underlying reasons for the macro picture is important. Let’s look more short-term. What happened last year, how did our portfolios perform, and what is likely to happen in 2020? I concluded my 2018-19 New […] Read more

Columns

Farm Financial Planner: Farm transfer could lead to “hobby farm” status

Passing on an unprofitable farm can raise tax challenges for the next generation

By Andrew Allentuck March 4, 2020

A couple we’ll call George and Mary have farmed in south-central Manitoba for the last 35 years on a third-generation family farm. Each is 60 years old. Their dilemma is generational transfer. Their issue is the fundamental low level of profitability that could, if not handled properly, cause the farm owner to lose their ability to […] Read more

Columns, Crops

Aster yellow damage in 2012

The real extent of the crop yield damage done by aster yellows that summer

By Ieuan Evans March 4, 2020

Aster yellows is a minute phytoplasma bacterium that causes losses annually to a wide range of farm and horticultural crops. Most years, it is usual to see little in the way of aster yellows damage to canola, the most obviously affected crop. When you check canola fields in full bloom you can often pick out […] Read more

News, Wheat & Chaff

If you must work alone, make sure you stay safe

By Canadian Agricultural Safety Association March 4, 2020

There are many farm tasks that require you to work alone, like operating equipment in the field. Working alone can be risky, but there are preventive measures we can take to reduce the risks. The hazards of working alone are broader than you may think. You could be injured, have a medical emergency, experience a […] Read more

News, Wheat & Chaff

Deciding to try a new-to-you crop

Q & A with Nutrien Ag Solutions

By Brianna Lummerding March 3, 2020

Q: Should I add a new crop into my rotation? A: Farming operations are becoming more diverse with increased interest in adding new crop types into rotations. Adding a new crop type may be as simple as adding a different cereal crop or may be as diverse as adding soybeans, coriander, caraway, hemp or quinoa. Adding […] Read more

GFM Network News

Women who fed a nation

U.S. grains: Soybeans rise on China demand hopes; corn and wheat rebound

U.S. livestock: Hogs rebound, cattle hit upward limits

Columns

Seven strategies of successful farms

Les Henry: Fertilizing for forage yields

Commodity booms and busts: Part 1

Alberta kicks off Outstanding Young Farmers year

CN rail safety initiative focuses on grain truck drivers

Year and decade financial review: Part 3

Farm Financial Planner: Farm transfer could lead to “hobby farm” status

Aster yellow damage in 2012

If you must work alone, make sure you stay safe

Deciding to try a new-to-you crop

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