I note with interest that the organization formerly known as the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association has picked a venue for its next annual convention. I mean “with interest” as in “I’ll be interested to see if they get the same blowback they got 25 years ago, but I’m betting not.” The group, which recently […] Read more
Editor’s Rant: The traveller’s dilemma
Editor’s Rant: Seeds, saved
Against a changing climate, this is how we adapt
Before we all get much farther into this book, it needs to be said: Folks, we’re not trying to bright-side climate change here. It’s far beyond dispute that Earth’s climate is changing — in part due to natural factors over time such as changes in the sun’s radiation and the occasional volcano, but mainly due […] Read more
New tools clear paths for canola’s next steps
Gene editing, artificial intelligence bring new efficiencies to the process
Recent technological advancements applied to canola breeding are already making selection a more efficient process. On an industry panel during Ag in Motion in July, asked about what’s next in the canola development pipeline, breeders and developers with Bayer spoke of the new processes and pathways they can now use to get there. One significant […] Read more
Editor’s Rant: Bumper sticklers
Crop forecasting is a thankless job, but necessary
They were good calls at the time. Just a few weeks ago a clutch of farm writers from across Canada converged on Glacier FarmMedia’s Ag in Motion show west of Saskatoon. Some of those writers, myself included, drove past quite a lot of handsome crops en route. In some stretches, the usually blue watery mirages […] Read more
Former federal ag minister Chuck Strahl dies at 67
A memorial service is planned for Aug. 23 in Chilliwack, B.C. for Chuck Strahl, the logger turned politician who served about a year and a half as federal agriculture minister in Stephen Harper's government, helping carry several of its policy plans through to completion.
From AIM: New tech opens paths for canola’s next steps
After Bayer’s “dream team” panel of canola breeders and developers at Ag in Motion to discuss their work on “the highest-yielding DeKalb canola hybrid yet,” an audience member posed the inevitable question: What’s next?
WATCH: New report drops numbers on plant breeding ROI
The report noted an internal rate of return of 14.9 per cent for the centre’s key stakeholders, producing a benefit-cost ratio of 10.8.
Bayer offers up new herbicide combo to dog resistant weeds early
Bayer launches Huskie, a new herbicide blend.
Editor’s Rant: Thanks, Les
We begin with sad news for readers who haven’t already heard: Les Henry, a soil scientist and university professor dedicated to the improvement of Prairie farmland, and a mainstay in these pages for almost 50 years, left us on June 14 at age 83, ending a long fight with congestive heart failure. We can defer […] Read more
Grain drying firm Shivvers buys Haber, forms STIG
Iowa-based grain drying systems maker Shivvers Manufacturing has bought a fellow Iowa firm, Haber Technologies. That deal, announced at the end of May, creates a new business, Shivvers Technology and Innovation Group (STIG). “This marriage allows the opportunity to build upon the synergies between Shivvers’ established drying solutions and the cutting-edge technology Haber already offers […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
