Watching for and developing diversification opportunities is certainly an important part of how partners DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman built their farm businesses in Ontario. Growing up on their respective farms in southwestern Ontario, they both started farm businesses at an early age. DJ grew up on a beef operation and started a custom farming […] Read more
Organic
DJ Wassenaar and Matt Bergman
Outstanding Young Farmers: How they put diversity in their rotations, cropping systems, equipment use — and growing regions
Tristan and Aubyn Banwell
Outstanding Young Farmers 2024: How this ranch moved from traditional commercial channels into direct organic meat marketing
Spray Creek Ranch in southwestern B.C. has the land, the livestock, a well-established market and even a new abattoir built on the farm. Now it just needs a butcher. The organic direct-to-consumer meat business that Tristan and Aubyn Banwell have built over the past 10 years on their ranch, near Lillooet, is still flourishing as […] Read more
Perceptions and misconceptions versus realities in agriculture
Practical Research: In the court of public opinion, the drama can fog the facts
Since my retirement from Alberta Agriculture in 2002 I’ve acted as a legal expert in a number of lawsuits. Often, when a farmer is sued by a lawyer on behalf of a client, the farmer will immediately seek his own lawyer or lawyers for advice. While the lawyer may be well apprised of provincial and […] Read more
Farmer interest growing in plant biostimulants
Companies hope to fill an existing 'knowledge gap' about the purpose of these products
Glacier FarmMedia — At 2 p.m. on July 17, Ryan Bonnett and many other people at the Ag In Motion farm show near Langham were seeking a place in the shade. The temperature was around 30 C and the word “hot” came up in most conversations at the show. The afternoon temperature was also on […] Read more
Organic fertilizer made from calamari? I squid you not
Squid Juice repurposes by-product waste from calamari processing and converts it into liquid organic fertilizer.
New U.S. organic rules cause headaches for Canadian exporters
The rule, which implements mandates from the 2018 U.S. Farm Bill, requires National Organic Program (NOP) certificates for all organic imports, and certification of businesses at more points of the supply chain, among other changes the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a news release in January 2023.
Let’s look at the facts on pesticides
Practical Research: Chemicals found in nature aren’t intrinsically safer than the man-made options
The May 2024 edition of Consumer Reports, published by a well-regarded U.S. not-for-profit independent organization, examined “Produce Without Pesticides.” The article carried a lead statement that some 20 per cent of the 59 fruits and vegetables in its ratings posed a high risk for pesticides. It also made the statement that some of our favourite […] Read more
Feds fund organic development groups
MacAulay pledged up to nearly $$1,175,841 for the Canadian Organic Trade Association (COTA) over three years via the AgriMarketing program and up to $985,985 over three years to the Prairie Organic Development Fund via the AgriCompetativeness program.
Redekop partnering on new system for weed seed destruction
Canadian manufacturer's work with U.S. company allows for light technology to destroy weed seeds
One way to defeat the problem of weed resistance is to keep as many weed seeds out of a field as possible. Redekop’s Seed Control Unit (SCU), which pulverizes seeds coming out of the back of a combine, is one tool to help do that. But it can only be used on Class 8 and […] Read more
Peatland farming, the Prairies’ best-kept secret
Practical Research: Improving these lands' copper fertility could potentially pay significant dividends
In 1981, I heard a discussion on micronutrients in crop production by the late Jerry Stoller. He talked about the need to pay attention to the micronutrient needs of crops, because just like macronutrients — nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur — they can be depleted over time on even the best cropland. Stoller also said […] Read more
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