Working with all types of people in ag

Reporter's Notebook: Most people in the ag industry are great to work with. But harassment still happens

Talk to a few people in the agriculture industry, and you’ll likely hear something like this: Agriculture is a great field to work in, largely because there are so many good people in the industry. I think about this a lot. Is it true? In what way is it true? Is agriculture different than other […] Read more

Lining up the beneficial beetles from an insect trap. These are melanarius beetles, which belong to the carabid, or ground beetle, family. 
Ground beetles prey on pest insects. 


Want to know which bugs are in your field? Try traps

Trapping beneficial beetles can help you see just what’s living on your land

Wondering what types of beneficial insects you have beetling around your fields? Try a ground trap. “It’s nice to know that you’ve got some good guys in there that are eating the bad guys,” said Patty Reid, a research tech with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. There isn’t an economic threshold for beneficial insects such as […] Read more


Relays use an internal electromagnet to turn on and off the flow of electricity.

How to check for a faulty relay

If a component isn’t working, is the relay to blame? Here’s how to check

Many electrical components in a vehicle or machine are controlled by a relay. So if a component isn’t working because electricity isn’t getting to it, there is a possibility the relay may be faulty. But determining whether or not a relay is defective requires a little basic investigation. Here’s how to go about it. First, […] Read more

Plains Bison

Producing clean bison genetics

New ‘washing’ techniques could benefit cattle industry as well

Genetic research in wood bison may have wider implications for wildlife conservation and for the Canadian livestock industry. Scientists have developed tools using assisted reproductive technologies such as cryopreservation (freezing), artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer which could help increase dwindling wild bison populations and prevent the spread of disease. Canadian wood bison is an […] Read more






Managing the carbon crop

Managing the carbon crop

The objective is to return more carbon to the soil than is released

One of the best parts of writing for Grainews is the people who contact me to question/disagree or express some interest in an aspect of a story I have written. I confess I have sometimes written pieces just to engage healthy discussion. I have always had an interest in the “global warming” debate and have […] Read more


The new mid-frame VT-70 compact track loader from ASV LLC uses a vertical lift loader linkage for applications requiring continuously level loads. 


New compact track loader from ASV

Minnesota-based brand strengthens its offering after return to the marketplace

Minnesota-based ASV has introduced its first mid-frame, vertical lift compact track loader, the Posi-Track VT-70. It features a vertical lift loader linkage capable of extended reach while maintaining level bucket loads, which is useful for loading pallets. ASV says it has incorporated the company’s patented Posi-Track rubber track suspension into the VT-70’s design. That’s a […] Read more

This horse cut himself somehow in the pasture during a blizzard. That mess on his leg is snow and frozen blood. I thought I might have to bandage and wrap it. However, the wound was barely visible — it’s under the dot of ice in the second picture. He wasn’t lame, I couldn’t find any foreign material in the wound, and the leg didn’t swell, so I left it alone. This is just one example of the things that only seem to happen when I’m farm-sitting.

Leaving your livestock to a farm-sitter

Reporter's Notebook: Before you get on the plane, you're going to have to find someone to feed and watch those cows

How do cattle producers manage to leave for winter holidays if they aren’t working with extended family? It’s a conundrum producers have likely faced since they first domesticated cattle-beasts. Several years ago, while I was still living in Edmonton, I remember hearing about a guy, Frank Campbell, who was setting up a farm-sitting service. Basically […] Read more