Sask. farmers make good seeding progress, despite the weather

Saskatchewan Crop Report for the week ending May 15, 2017

Despite recent cool and wet weather, good seeding progress was made for much of the province this past week. Thirty per cent of the 2017 crop is now in the ground, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly Crop Report. The five-year (2012-2016) seeding average for this time of year is 33 per cent. Seeding is most […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Sobeys, Safeway parent seeks cost-cutting ‘leverage’

Empire Co., the parent firm for about 1,500 grocery stores across Canada, plans to restructure from a regional to a “largely national” operation cutting $500 million in annual costs by the end of 2020. Nova Scotia-based Empire — whose stores operate under brands including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawton’s — on […] Read more



Kabuli chickpeas. (PulseCanada.com)

Tight chickpea supplies to limit Canadian acres

CNS Canada — Tight chickpea supplies will keep Canada from taking advantage of fresh demand out of Turkey, while any acreage increases will also be hampered by poor seed supply. Due to its own domestic chickpea shortage, Turkey recently announced it was temporarily lifting import tariffs on chickpeas. Turkey has bought Canadian chickpeas in the […] Read more


grain bins and barley field

Would your farm pass the stress test?

When you pencil out 
your farm budgets, 
calculate some “what if” 
scenarios as well

New provincial guidelines for estimating 2017 crop production costs are being released across the Prairies. These guidelines can help producers predict their operating costs, breakeven yields and profitability. Producers should also be doing a “stress test” to see how much deviation from those predictions the farm can actually bear without losing money, is the advice […] Read more

Several jurisdictions in Canada have imposed a ban on disposal of food scraps as garbage, including Metro Vancouver, which required food waste to be recycled starting in 2015. (Vancouver.ca)

Ontario waste plan to include ban on food waste disposal

Ontario’s new strategy for a “waste-free” province includes a proposal to ban food waste from disposal, instead finding “creative strategies” to recycle it. The province on Wednesday announced its new “Strategy for a Waste-Free Ontario: Building the Circular Economy,” which calls for industries to divert more of the waste they produce away from landfills, and […] Read more





Agriculture Canada researcher Bob Blackshaw, right, with Univeristy of Alberta master’s student Mat Vercaigne talk to producers during a field day in Lethbridge on “forgotten” herbicides that can help manage resistance.

Old, new products deliver multi-modes of action

The challenge is to hit weeds with two or more active ingredients to reduce resistance

Old chemistry, new formulations, multiple modes of action — these are all elements farmers can include in their weed control toolbox heading into 2017, say weed researchers and crop protection specialists. One of the most important elements these days for either preventing or managing herbicide resistance in weeds is to approach control with multiple modes […] Read more

New advances in chickpea breeding

New advances in chickpea breeding

Chickpea breeder Bunyamin Tar’an explains what breeders’ goals in variety development


Farming is all about colours: staying in the black and avoiding the red to keep your business in the pink of health. That’s no small feat, which is why genetic improvement and variety development in chickpeas is needed to keep farmers on the cutting edge and keep those greenbacks coming in. “For any crop you […] Read more