When a crowbar isn’t enough on frozen ground, a powered auger 
can get a hole started.

Tips for fencing on frozen ground

It may take a little longer, but at least the job gets done

With the 2018 harvest dragging out into late fall and a backlog of fall work to do, we weren’t too excited about trying our fencing project in the winter. We had over three miles of fence that needed to be built before spring. Our biggest concern was that the frost would be too deep and […] Read more


File photo of wheat being loaded onto a bulk vessel at port in Russia. (YGrek/iStock/Getty Images)

Russian agricultural firms raided over suspected tax evasion

Moscow | Reuters — Meat producer Cherkizovo and farming conglomerate Rusagro were among agricultural firms across Russia targeted in a sweeping investigation into suspected tax evasion on Wednesday. The Tax Service said so far five potential breaches had been uncovered in inspections carried out with the Federal Security Service (FSB) at agricultural holdings across 13 […] Read more

When you sell straw or hay off your farm, have you ever considered the fate of the nutrients contained in the hay or straw?

Selling nutrients: the last straw

Practical Research: How to degrade productive cropland by selling the nutrients after the harvest season

Sandy soil areas are not uncommon on the Canadian Prairies, especially west and north of Edmonton, my home area. It made me wince when I saw endless lines of wheat straw bales on countless sandy fields this fall. Technically speaking, straw should never be sold on any kind of cropland unless there is a very […] Read more


Tilapia grown aquaponically in Saskatchewan.

Fish on the flatland

First We Eat: Aquaponics on the Prairies 
make local sourcing of fish easier

We didn’t eat much fish when I was a kid, just the occasional trout my grandfather reeled in from the North Saskatchewan River, and East Coast cod on Fridays. Not until we arrived on Vancouver Island did I learn to love fish, especially West Coast sockeye salmon, although the act of fishing struck me as […] Read more

This young Angus bull has been bred with forage efficiency and good maternal traits in mind.

Producing good working bulls

Most don’t have ‘papers’ but still deliver the genetics

Traditionally bulls have been confined during winter and fed grain as well as hay, but some producers are wintering their bulls in larger pastures and letting them grow (or maintain) under more natural conditions. This often leads to better health, better fertility and longevity. Arron Nerbas of Nerbas Brothers Angus, near Shellmouth, in western Manitoba, […] Read more


File photo of an oil pumpjack near Drumheller, Alta. (LaughingMango/E+/Getty Images)

Bankrupt oil firms must clean up inactive wells, Supreme Court rules

Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — Canada’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that bankrupt oil companies must clean up inactive wells, overturning lower court decisions that prioritized paying creditors and potentially raising the risks of investment in the industry. The 5-2 ruling means that the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), which had appealed the earlier court decisions, can […] Read more



New caretakers at Kootenay River Ranch

Another family takes a turn at making a home and memories

We’re barely into January and already there is change. “The Farm” is gone. It wasn’t my farm, but it was a chunk of pasture and hayland in south eastern B.C. that has been a big part of my life for the past 40 some years. Let’s face it, it was just dirt and grass but […] Read more