Anything we do these days often comes with a meaningless label. For example, people say, “I am a Catholic, a Baptist, a Methodist …” but haven’t been near a church in many years. Some say, “I am right wing, left wing, green, a socialist, conservative …” but when questioned, most individuals have no definition or […] Read more
Zero tillage: lime it occasionally
Acidification of the top few inches may inhibit cereal growth
The forgotten plant and animal mineral micronutrients
Ten nutrient minerals essential for plants and animal nutrition
How many times have you read about plants needing 16 nutrients for growth? The usual carbon, oxygen and hydrogen as well as the macrominerals nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur, calcium and magnesium (N, P, K, S, Ca and Mg, respectively). This is followed by micronutrients such as boron, copper, chloride, manganese, iron, molybdenum and zinc (B, […] Read more
Faked fuzz facts on fusarium
The real story of Alberta’s fusarium head blight control program
Fusarium head blight (FHB) of wheat, barley, oat, rye and triticale caused by Fusarium graminearum is the most destructive disease of cereals in Western Canada right now. This fungus is also a destructive disease on corn, particularly in Ontario and the United States, where it is the exact same disease that we have on small […] Read more
Why do we let the tail wag the dog?
Is this a foretaste of livestock and grain farmer harassment in the near future?
All kinds of minor groups rail against the vast majority of ordinary citizens; for example, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) or the anti-herbicide or pesticide groups in our cities. Take Edmonton, for example. In the city zoo, they have a long-term elephant called Lucy. The elephant is now […] Read more
Foo-foo farming and fabricated information
Watch out for vendors who sell fake or grossly overpriced products
When you answer the telephone these days, many of the messages are nothing but fake claims. You are told that you owe Revenue Canada money, or that your credit or debit cards have been compromised. All of these things have happened to me in the last few years. I have also received police notices in […] Read more
Fowl play in the free-range poultry industry
The dire perils of free-range environments, chickens may be happier indoors, warm and among friends
It seems that the general public has a very distorted view of farming practices, which is helped by the inability or reluctance of the North American farming community to deliver the real facts. Many in the urban general public seem to have fond visions of laying hens or broiler chickens tiptoeing through the green, grassy […] Read more
Glyphosate gets off the butterfly hook
An example of a blatant effort to find a pesticide scapegoat
When I lived in Ontario in the early seventies, monarch butterflies were a common sight in the Guelph area, especially in late September. I would be coaching rugby on the University of Guelph rugby field late in the day and I would see hundreds of monarch butterflies heading south over the playing field at a […] Read more
Seed cereal crops in August in waterlogged regions of Alberta this year
Crops could remove up to 10 inches of moisture from flooded croplands
This year in the northern and north-central areas of Alberta, particularly in the Edmonton region, we have had an unusually wet spring and summer, following a wet fall and lots of winter snow. It has been estimated this spring and summer that the Edmonton area has had up to 20 inches of rain. As a […] Read more
No such thing as a free lunch when it comes to crop nutrition
Yields can suffer if soils are deficient in any crop nutrient
When I worked as a plant pathologist for Alberta Agriculture in the 1970s, I was surprised to find only 10 per cent of Prairie farmers have ever had their soil tested for crop nutrients. How could they grow a cereal or canola crop without knowing what plant nutrients — nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), potassium (K) […] Read more
Sixteen reasons why grain growers should never sell crop residues
Read this article and you’ll never sell baled straw again
Could it be the last straw or the straw that broke the camel’s back? If you grow lentils, peas, canola, dry beans, fava beans, soybeans or grain corn, it’s normal practice to harvest the grain and leave the combined residue on the cropland. There are exceptions when some of the aforementioned crops may be baled. […] Read more