Pasture Archives - Page 17 of 102

Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies, in degrees Celsius, for the week centred on April 5, 2023. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

U.S. forecaster sees 62 per cent chance of El Nino developing during May-July

Argentina, parts of U.S. could benefit; Asian crops may not

By GFM Network News April 13, 2023

Reuters — A U.S. weather forecaster on Thursday predicted a 62 per cent chance of the El Niño phenomenon developing in the Northern Hemisphere during May-July, and a strong chance toward end-year, likely compounding risks to crops across the globe. “The coastal warming in the eastern Pacific may foreshadow changes across the Pacific basin. Therefore, […] Read more

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s spring 2023 flood outlook, issued March 16 and covering the spring period through May, calls for risk of “moderate to major” flooding along the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to St. Louis, but also shows “moderate” flood risk along the Red River, which forms the North Dakota-Minnesota state line and flows northward into Lake Winnipeg. (NOAA)

General, Weather

Manitoba’s Red River Valley at major risk for flooding

Province's March flood outlook report cites U.S. storms as reason

By GFM Network News March 22, 2023

Manitoba has significantly raised the risk of spring flooding in its Red River Valley, follow “recent precipitation events south of the border.” Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure’s Hydrologic Forecast Centre on Wednesday projected a major risk of flooding on the Red River and low to moderate risk of flooding in most Manitoba basins in its March […] Read more

Cattleman’s Corner

Getting bulls prepped for breeding season

Bulls in optimum body condition have high sperm count and sex drive at breeding

By Peter Vitti March 22, 2023

Beef bulls are prepared in different ways before the upcoming breeding season. Some are ignored, maybe left on some distant stubble field or in a drylot pen, and inadequately fed. Other bulls are fed too well, so they waddle with fat. The rest are properly prepared for the breeding season, putting them in the best […] Read more

Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures in degrees Celsius for the week centred on March 15, 2023. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

General, Weather

No big changes in current weather patterns

Potential for some precipitation in early April

By GFM Network News March 22, 2023

MarketsFarm — With spring officially underway, don’t expect a lot of major changes in the current weather patterns across the Canadian Prairies and the U.S. northern Plains, according to Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc. at Overland Park, Kansas. “For the rest of March, it’s status quo, it will stay cold. We’re not going to […] Read more

Soybean growers in the Prairies should adopt prevention methods like those for clubroot as soon as possible to prevent major soybean crop yield losses.

Columns, Crops

Present and future plant disease and weed issues in the Prairies, Part 2

By Ieuan Evans March 21, 2023

It’s farm equipment that does the bulk of disease spread

In Part I of this discussion on plant disease and weed issues, I explored clubroot of canola. Now for the other nine listed and destructive disease and weed issues on my top 10 list. All nine of these disease and weed issues move from cropland to cropland in exactly the same way as clubroot of […] Read more

Veterinarian Cid Hayden files down a few sharp teeth that were making it difficult for Sprout to eat. She was soon back eating normally.

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock

Brush clearing creates more pastures

Rancher Diary: A little dental work had Sprout eating again

By Heather Smith Thomas March 17, 2023

January 28 Last Saturday morning I noticed Sprout was having a little trouble eating when I fed her hay. That evening the problem was worse; she had some soreness in her mouth, sometimes tipping her head upward and to the side (as if to get away from pain) as well as spitting out food. I […] Read more

News, Pasture

Restoring native prairie in Saskatchewan through reverse auction

By Lisa Guenther March 13, 2023

Glacier FarmMedia – Tom Harrison is on a mission to reverse the tide of native prairie being converted to cropland in Saskatchewan. It’s not an easy task. Several factors are working against efforts to conserve, let alone restore, native prairie. Economics favour farming over ranching. Government programs and policies have encouraged farmers to cultivate the […] Read more

Even without increasing the cow herd size, enhanced grazing management can pay dividends by extending the grazing season.

Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock, Pasture

The importance of giving grass a vacation

A properly managed rest period should lead to increased forage production

By Sean McGrath March 8, 2023

Often the largest category of costs in a cattle operation is what economists consider fixed costs. These are usually big things such as tractors or land. In most cases, land is the largest cost item in a farm operation. On the other side of this equation are what we refer to as variable costs. These […] Read more

Columns, Crops

What is soil fertility?

There are no miracles in crop production, just sound scientific facts

By Ieuan Evans February 27, 2023

Soil fertility for field crops is a very simple affair but extremely difficult to easily explain. Think logically. There are no miracle fertilizers, only plain and simple chemical nutrients whether from an organic source or from a concentrate of nutrients we call chemical or synthetic fertilizer. There is no such thing as a synthetic fertilizer. […] Read more

Along with native grass pastures, the Baergs are trying different combinations of seeded grass and legume species to  provide both annual and perennial forage stands.

Cattleman’s Corner

Crop diversity intended to beef up the soil

Proper rotation is part of developing sustainable farming operation

By Alberta Beef Producers, Canadian Cattle Association February 22, 2023

“If you take care of the grass, it will take care of you.” These are the words of wisdom Alberta cattle producer Jerry Baerg received from one of his mentors, and which he has followed as he and his family set about building a sustainable beef operation near Linden in south-central Alberta. Over the past […] Read more

Trade mission heads for Japan as Canada becomes the country’s top pork supplier

U.S. grains: Soybeans drop on lack of Chinese demand, wheat hits contract lows

Canadian durum samples show damage from wet weather

GFM Network News