Weather, soil moisture and crops

Weather, soil moisture and crops

Your definition of drought will depend on the amount of subsoil in your fields

My 2016 barley crop was seeded May 8 into excellent moisture at a depth of 1.0 to 1.5 inches — a bit deeper in some soft sloughs. Up to the date of seeding there had been essentially no spring rains. A May 4 burn off with 2,4-D + Glyphosate took care of the volunteer canola […] Read more

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Canada dilutes plan to limit temporary foreign workers

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s Liberal government on Thursday watered down measures to limit the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers firms can hire after complaints the restrictions would cause major labour shortages. Under rules introduced by the previous Conservative administration, the number of low-skilled foreign workers a firm could employ would have dropped to […] Read more


(NBFairs.ca)

Audit rips New Brunswick’s oversight of ag fairs

New Brunswick’s provincial government plans to update the legislation governing agricultural fair associations, following an audit that criticizes several departments for lack of oversight on the fair organizations. Given ag fairs’ charitable gaming privileges and exemptions available for property and income taxes, Auditor General Kim MacPherson found “limited provincial processes to monitor compliance” with the […] Read more

(Canpotex.com)

Canpotex shelves plans for Prince Rupert terminal

Reuters — Canpotex, the potash export sales arm for PotashCorp, Mosaic Co. and Agrium, said Friday it would not build a planned shipping terminal at Prince Rupert in British Columbia. Canpotex said the decision was based on economic and commercial considerations and that its export capacity in Vancouver, Saint John and Portland were sufficient. PotashCorp […] Read more


Campbell, which recently rolled out several Star Wars-themed products such as these Darth Vader-shaped SpaghettiOs, plans to label all its U.S. products for presence of GMO ingredients. (Campbells.com)

MP calls for mandatory GMO labels, echoes Vermont regulations

CNS Canada — A Quebec MP has tabled a new bill calling for mandatory labelling of genetically modified (GM) foods, following steps taken by lawmakers south of the border. Pierre-Luc Dusseault, the New Democrat MP for Sherbrooke, introduced Bill C-291 Tuesday morning, calling for the mandatory labelling of genetically engineered (GE) foods in Canada. Dusseault […] Read more



(Government of Alberta via Flickr)

Alberta sacks AFSC board over top brass’ expenses

Alberta’s government has dismissed the board of its farm financing and crop insurance agency following an internal probe into “expense and procurement practices” for senior executives. Three unnamed senior executives at Agriculture Financial Services Corp. (AFSC) have also been “relieved from active duty,” the province said in a release Monday. The province on Monday named […] Read more

(PortoDoItaqui.ma.gov.br)

Globalized economy seen more susceptible to weather extremes

Barcelona | Thomson Reuters Foundation — The globalization of the world’s economy this century has made it far more vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather, including heat stress on workers, scientists said Friday. A study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Columbia University showed production losses caused by high temperatures, predicted […] Read more



Warm week provides excellent crop growth

Saskatchewan Crop Report for the week ending June 6

Seeding has essentially wrapped up in the province with 98 per cent of the 2016 crop in the ground, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s weekly Crop Report. The five-year (2011-2015) average for this time of year is 89 per cent seeded. Many producers have completed seeding operations and are working on in-crop herbicide applications. Topsoil moisture […] Read more