Western Canadian farmers thinking about growing Nexera canola have until the end of October to take advantage of free crop insurance coverage providing up to $100 per acre in protection against heat blast during the 2022 growing season. Corteva Agriscience has introduced this first-of-its-kind insurance coverage, known as the Heat Advantage program, providing insurance of […] Read more
Nexera offers free heat blast insurance on canola until October 29, 2021
Fully automatic coverage with a payout as temperatures rise
Farmers still cautious about biostimulants
Farmer Panel: Some benefits observed, but questions continue about if, when and where they produce consistent results
Western Canadian farmers aren’t exactly stampeding to crop supply retailers looking for biostimulant products that offer to improve crop production. That’s the view of at least a sampling of Prairie producers when asked for this September’s farmer panel on what they think about biological and biostimulant products applied to soil, seed or as foliar treatments. Producers […] Read more
Country Guide becomes an historical record
Nearly 50 years of magazines goes into university archives
If you were one of perhaps hundreds of western Canadian farmers who found their farms featured on the pages of Country Guide magazine between 1974 and about 2003, you are literally in the history books now. Your story and photos — whether it be fact or fiction— are now preserved for all time in the […] Read more
Soil studies just for the “health” of it
Alberta lab teaches farmers to be soil health investigators
[UPDATED: Oct. 6, 2021] Farmers spend a lot of time working in and on the soil. As the holder of crop nutrients and, hopefully, water, soil is literally the foundation for growing crops, although under extremely dry conditions, it may seem like just so much dirt. But aside from what a soil analysis might tell […] Read more
Grasshoppers, yes, but so far no locusts
It took five days in the late 1800s for the cloud of locust to pass
I don’t know if there is much of a silver lining to the drought of 2021, but I’ll throw this out there — at least farmers aren’t dealing with a plague of locusts as happened back in 1874. I have heard in recent days of crop and pasture conditions ranging from okay, we’ll get through […] Read more
After a dry growing season
While it’s definitely a disappointing and, for some, disastrous year, it’s no time to forget about the soil — farmers are urged to think about soil and nutrient management practices this fall
With soil moisture conditions this August across virtually all of western Canadian farmland ranging from abnormally dry to beyond description, it might seem there isn’t much to be done to improve soil health and management until it rains. However, while it may seem counterintuitive, agronomists and soil specialists alike say don’t forget about soil testing […] Read more
Producers see benefits of new beef research position
Southern Alberta rancher Craig Lehr is hoping a new research position at the University of Alberta will help make existing and future beef industry research more relevant and more applicable to all segments of the beef industry production chain. Lehr who along with family members operates Short Grass Ranches near Medicine Hat, says a recently […] Read more
Management can boost pasture production by 80 per cent
Any time you can increase pasture productivity and stocking rate by anywhere even close to 80 per cent, that has to be a management practice delivering value to livestock producers. But that’s the kind of benefit research shows can be achieved by doing a better job of controlling weeds and brush on pasture, according to […] Read more
A serious start on removing clutter
Aside from the CWB magnets, the next generation is probably taking it all to the dump anyway
A very important lesson and take-home message this month — don’t be afraid to throw away stuff you don’t need. Be ruthless. I am just thankful I don’t own a farm or even an acreage. After doing a pretty serious cleaning of my garage and basement earlier this spring and throwing out stuff (bordering on, […] Read more
How dry is it out there?
I’m not sure if this is one of those “canary in the coal mine” stories, but Reuters news service had an interesting article today on the impact a long-running drought across southern parts of the U.S. is having on the country’s largest reservoir. Lake Mead, east of Las Vegas — a giant reservoir behind the Hoover […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
