Prep heifers for breeding and calving

Prep heifers for breeding and calving

Bred or unbred, these animals need energy to grow

Many producers are retaining more replacement heifers than in previous years. There are many good reasons to do so, but if so they should assure that unbred replacements are receiving adequate midwinter nutrition in order to be ready for breeding in the spring and ready to give birth to their first healthy calf. Given that […] Read more

File photo of a barley field in Argentina. (Juan Pablo Marchelletti/iStock/Getty Images)

Argentine truckers end strike, freeing China-bound barley

Canada, France would have been buyers' Plan B

Buenos Aires | Reuters — Argentine truckers ended a 20-day strike that had blocked access to ports in Buenos Aires province, agricultural industry sources said on Tuesday, following a deal struck with local officials to increase freight-hauling rates. Trucks owners grouped in the informal TUDA association (Transportistas Unidos de Argentina) began blocking highways last month, […] Read more


Organic farmer Boyd Charles, pictured here with wife, Gloria, of Stoughton, Sask., says his pelletized and cooked chicken manure packs more fertilizer punch for his grain crops than commercial fertilizer ever could.

Saskatchewan organic producer wins with chicken manure

Pelletized, cooked manure an organic fertilizer solution

Ask Boyd Charles what he considers his happiest day as a farmer and he’ll probably tell you it was the day he sold his sprayer. “I was tired of giving away most of my profit to the chemical companies,” he says of his decision to become an organic farmer in 1996. He hasn’t looked back. […] Read more

Snow on March 28, 2013, at my Dundurn farm. My asparagus patch is between the quonset and the trees. Snow was four to six feet deep.


Les Henry: A snow job

Snow as a water source for crops

When we made the first-ever Soil Moisture Map in 1978, it was early days in the quest to get rid of as much summerfallow as possible. Those with Henry’s Handbook can check out page 109 to see that first map. The legend has stayed much the same. The objective of the map was to let […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan confirms canola stocks tightening

Wheat stocks also down from previous year-end

MarketsFarm — Solid demand from exporters and domestic crushers continues to eat rapidly through Canada’s canola stocks, which as of Dec. 31 were down nearly 24 per cent from the same date a year earlier, according to new data released Friday from Statistics Canada. The government agency pegged total canola stocks in the country as […] Read more

Cow-calfers and backgrounders should hold off

Cow-calfers and backgrounders should hold off

Market Update with Jerry Klassen: Keep lighter calves from the 2020 crop for as long as you can

Feed grain prices have been the largest factor influencing yearling and calf prices over the past couple of months. As of mid-January, feed barley was trading in the range of $275/mt to $285/mt delivered in the Lethbridge area while feedlots in the Red Deer region were making purchases from $265/mt to $272/mt delivered. Barley prices […] Read more


File photo of hogs on a Chinese farm. (Songqiuju/iStock/Getty Images)

Feed weekly outlook: Grain exports, prices rise

MarketsFarm — As more Canadian feed grains make their way overseas, especially into China, domestic buyers may need to pay more secure supplies from emptying bins over the next few months. “Anything extra we’re able to export is getting exported at this point,” Brandon Motz, owner and sales manager of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta., […] Read more

Alberta Blue Book goes private

It will be published jointly by four Alberta crop commissions

For the first time in more than 40 years the long-standing bible of crop protection products in Alberta, often referred to as the Blue Book, will be published by private industry rather than the provincial government. Starting in 2021, the Blue Book — Alberta’s crop protection guide — will be published in a joint effort […] Read more


Proline Gold is a new canola fungicide that offers protection against sclerotinia. Its liquid formulation provides systemic and contact protection with two modes of action. The above photo shows a sclerotinia stem lesion.

New fungicides and insecticides heading your way in 2021

New products to control insects like flea beetles and diseases, such as blackleg and sclerotinia, in canola, and more

One season is never the same as the next, so farmers face different disease and insect issues every year. This is one of the reasons there are new solutions being developed and coming to market every year — to help farmers protect their crops throughout the growing season from new and old disease and insect […] Read more

New herbicides for 2021

New herbicides for 2021

New and improved products and formulations from BASF, UPL AgroSolutions, Nufarm, FMC Canada and Corteva

Farmers face increasing pressure every year from existing and emerging weeds, as well as increasing issues with weed resistance. Agricultural companies are constantly developing and launching new and improved products and formulations to try and stay ahead of the curve. The following is a synopsis of the new herbicide products from BASF, UPL AgroSolutions, Nufarm, […] Read more