Pasture Archives - Page 44 of 103

Wet, cool weather slows harvest progress in Sask.

Saskatchewan Crop Report for the week ending October 7

By Saskatchewan Agriculture October 10, 2019

Many producers were able to return to the field last week and 55 per cent of the crop is now in the bin. This is up from 47 per cent last week but remains well behind the five-year (2014-2018) average of 82 per cent for this time of year. Twenty-nine per cent of the crop […] Read more

Spring runoff typically offers a great kick of moisture to get things started, but if things turn dry, where do you turn?

Columns, Crops

Les Henry: Water information in Western Canada is flowing nicely

Look to these sources for information on where to find water  during dry spells

By Les Henry October 9, 2019

The past few years, growing-season rain on many Canadian Prairie farms has been much less than needed for a good crop. From 2005 to 2014 high snowfall plus much above-average rainfall provided more than enough moisture for crop growth. The excess rain and snow filled the soil and raised the water table by as much […] Read more

Smoke billows during a fire in an area of the Amazon rainforest near Humaita, Amazonas State, Brazil on Aug. 14, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino)

Crops, Reuters, Weather

South America fires could disrupt its farm belt’s rainfall

By GFM Network News October 9, 2019

Santa Cruz | Reuters — Forest fires that swept across Bolivia and Brazil this year could disrupt rainfall distribution across South America’s grains-and-beef producing regions in unpredictable ways for years to come, a scientist and meteorologist said. Recent rains in both countries have helped put out the wildfires, which were likely started by farmers and […] Read more

Regardless of growing condition, all grasses begin to decline in quality this time of year. A proper vitamin and mineral program helps to meet nutrient requirements.

Beef Cattle, Cattleman’s Corner, Livestock

Fall is no time to slack off on a livestock mineral program

Plenty of hidden benefits for overall herd health and reproduction

By Peter Vitti October 7, 2019

Since April, I’ve had the privilege to criss-cross the Prairies to witness the opposite effects of drought and continuous rainstorms upon hundreds of square miles of pasture. In some areas, the pastures were brown, short and by themselves didn’t produce enough feed to support cattle, while other regions were green, lush and had lots of […] Read more

These photos, taken on August 15 just west of Edmonton, show classic copper deficiency. The field is a sandy loam soil with five to six per cent organic matter. The roadway, built about 10 years ago, has shoulders made up from deep-dug clay loam piled onto the field from the ditch. This clay loam is low in organic matter, probably one to two per cent or less, but high in available copper (see more below, including video).

Cereals, Columns, Crops

Identifying copper deficiency in wheat

Ieuan Evans looks at 2019 growing conditions, including areas where copper levels are low 

By Ieuan Evans October 4, 2019

In early August in central Alberta I was still seeing yellow fields of canola. Honeybees and mosquitoes were having an extended nectar flowing season. I will stick my neck out as usual and make a few observations and prophecies across the Western Prairies. Crops are late in the northern part of the Western Prairies, but […] Read more

Crops, News, Weather

Sask. farmers dry grain, wait on weather to resume harvest

Saskatchewan Crop Report for the week ending September 30

By Saskatchewan Agriculture October 3, 2019

According to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s Weekly Crop Report 47 per cent of the crop is now combined, up from 39 per cent last week. An early-winter storm slowed down most harvest operations in the province; however, producers were able to make some progress before the storm hit. The five-year (2014-2018) average is 75 per cent combined […] Read more

Federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa on April 10, 2019. (Photo: Reuters/Chris Wattie)

General

Federal minister for rural affairs among Tory pledges

By GFM Network News October 2, 2019

The federal Conservatives’ pre-election pledges for Canada’s rural communities include a plan to appoint a federal minister for rural affairs. Tory leader Andrew Scheer included that promise Sept. 7 in announcing a list of “specific measures he will take as prime minister to help rural communities across the country,” in the lead-up to a federal […] Read more

Burrows MLA Diljeet Brar, shown here outside Winnipeg’s Seven Oaks General Hospital in a campaign video screengrab, is the Manitoba NDP’s new critic for agriculture. (Facebook)

Crops

Ag extension staffer named Manitoba NDP ag critic

By GFM Network News September 27, 2019

A former Manitoba provincial ag extension co-ordinator will be the new critic for agriculture on the opposition New Democrats’ bench. Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew on Friday announced a new shadow cabinet, appointing Diljeet Brar as his critic for agriculture and for sport, culture and heritage. Brar, a rookie MLA elected Sept. 10 in the […] Read more

File photo of a snow-topped field in Alberta. (Don White/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Reuters, Weather

Snow to stall harvests for western Prairies, Montana

By GFM Network News September 27, 2019

Chicago | Reuters — A weekend storm is poised to bring more than a foot (30.5 cm) of snow to parts of Montana and the Canadian Prairies, putting portions of the region’s spring wheat and canola crops at risk, a meteorologist said. Excessively wet conditions in the region this month have already slowed fieldwork and […] Read more

The U.S. National Wildlife Health Center and U.S. Geological Survey produce this map of CWD’s current distribution in North America. The version shown here is current to Sept. 9, 2019. (NWHC.usgs.gov)

Livestock

Deer heads required from Kootenay region for CWD tests

By GFM Network News September 26, 2019

The discovery of chronic wasting disease in deer in northwestern Montana has officials in CWD-free British Columbia tightening their testing net. The province on Wednesday announced a mandatory sampling program, in which hunters must submit heads from mule deer and white-tailed deer harvested in wildlife management units 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6 and 4-7 […] Read more

GFM Network News

B.C. ostriches culled, CFIA confirms

U.S. livestock: Cattle, hogs end week on high note

U.S. grains: Soybeans bounce as Chinese demand assessed, wheat drops

Pasture