Ahh, spring is in the air! I love this time of year. It’s the season for fresh starts, renewal and growth — and I’m looking forward to all of these spring qualities. Before looking at what’s ahead, I’d like to take a moment to thank all of you for a fantastic first year as the editor of Grainews. Your feedback, which is always so gracious and helpful, has been very important to me.
I admit, I was nervous when I started this position just over 13 months ago because I hold Grainews and its audience in high esteem and I wanted to make sure it kept delivering relevant and credible production information that was practical and directly applicable to your farms and livestock operations. And the purpose of these efforts — to help increase your profitability overall. This was my goal 20 issues ago and is still my aim going forward. I will begin this new season by redoubling my efforts to provide you with content to help you increase yields, efficiencies and profits.
Once again, I’d like to invite you to help guide the content we publish in Grainews by sending us your story topic ideas and what information you’d find most useful for running your farms.
What’s new at Grainews?
I am so pleased and excited to let you know our staff is growing. This month, Mark Halsall joins the Grainews team as an associate editor. You may already be familiar with Mark’s work as he has written for many agricultural publications over the last 12 years. Mark brings with him more than 25 years of experience as an award-winning writer, editor and reporter and television news and film visual effects producer.
When Mark shifted his focus to agriculture in 2009, he discovered a passion for this complex and engaging industry with a particular interest in crop production. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mark at different times over the past nine years and I know he’s going to fit in very well at Grainews. Please join me in welcoming Mark and feel free to reach out to him anytime, I know he’d love to hear from you. We should have his contact details online by the time you read this issue.
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Have you got your digital pass for AIM 2021?
For those of you who don’t already know, Ag in Motion (AIM) Discovery Plus 2021 is already underway. It’s set up a little differently from last year. Rather than one large digital event held in July, this year AIM will host six online, one-day, themed digital events with timely, relevant programming and presenters throughout the year. Each event will correspond to key decision-making times on the farm.
On the day of a digital event, pre-recorded sessions will be released and will be held with live chats while the presentations are taking place. This provides the audience the opportunity to ask the presenters questions and to interact with other audience members. Also on event days, the virtual coffee shop is open — up to eight people can sit at a table and talk via video chat.
After a digital event day, all presentations are available on demand. You can take in sessions and demos anytime and as often as you like all year long. The AIM platform will also allow you to connect with other farmers and industry reps at your convenience for the year.
The first one-day themed event, Planting Kick-Off: Profiting through Incremental Gains, took place on March 24. Sessions focused on maximizing profitability through small changes, planting equipment tips and news and what’s on the horizon as another season gets underway. You may want to check out The Next Generation of Autonomous Ag with Scott Garvey, A Penny-Pincher’s Guide to Seeding Efficiency with Nathan Gregg, or Succeeding with Granular Herbicides with Erin Matlock. Those are just a few timely sessions you can watch at your convenience.
The next digital event will take place in early- to mid-June and each month thereafter, ending in November. For free registration, visit aginmotion.ca. AIM 2021 is hosted on Swapcard, which can be accessed on a smartphone, tablet or computer.
Finally, smaller, in-person events may also take place at the AIM site at Langham, Sask., as restrictions allow. Keep checking the AIM website for details as the season progresses.
This is a busy season where you pull out all the stops to meet your planting deadlines. It’s amazing what you do in such a short amount of time; however, don’t forget to take care of yourselves first.
Have a safe and productive planting season,
Kari
