Editor’s Column

“Yes, we’d love to come to your barbecue! But only if it’s raining.” “What? We were supposed to RSVP? Well, we’re here now! And there’s always room for one more at a wedding, right?” If you’ve found yourself saying one of those lines or something like them, maybe you’re a farmer. (Or at least married […] Read more

Lions and lambs

A fun, but not very reliable weather saying tells us: If March comes in like a lion it will go out like a lamb. It often happens that March begins cold and stormy and ends warm and balmy. People tend to think that nature, and life, always strives for a balance, which may have been […] Read more


Editor’s Column

When our phone rang at 6:45, we knew who it would be before my husband picked it up. “Just as well,” I heard my husband say. “I wasn’t looking forward to going out there to move enough snow out of the lane so you could turn around in the yard.” It was too dangerous for […] Read more

Editor’s Column: The last lunch

For most farmers across the Prairies, harvest is over. At our farm, we managed to get the crop off without any major problems, but yields were not what we hoped. We aren’t alone. On Oct. 4, Statistics Canada released its September crop estimates, reporting a 17.5 per cent drop in canola yields compared with last […] Read more


New chemfallow herbicide

BASF Canada has received registration to bring a new chemfallow and post-harvest herbicide to Western Canada. Distinct herbicide, tank-mixed with glyphosate, offers exceptional weed control and resistance management in post-harvest and chemfallow applications, with total follow crop flexibility. Distinct is a breakthrough in control with a new mode of action. It is made up of […] Read more

Soybeans by seed count

Pioneer Hi-Bred plans to start selling its soybean products by seed count per unit instead of by weight, beginning this fall for planting in 2013. The DuPont-owned seed company, which until now had sold soybean seeds by the 50-pound (22.7-kilogram) unit, will move to a 140,000-seed-per-unit measure in both Canada and the U.S. Soybean seeds […] Read more


If it harms pests it can harm humans

Weeds, insects and fungi — these pests can threaten yields and your bottom line. So when careful field monitoring uncovers a particularly unwelcome pest, most grain farmers reach for the appropriate pesticide and take aim. But eliminating the European corn borer, club root fungus or sowthistle shouldn’t come at the expense of your health and […] 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


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