With the start of the 2020 growing season just a few weeks away, crop protection companies are introducing farmers to new products with new chemistries promising improved pest control — some with wider windows of application and some with dual modes of action — and all are intended to provide a bigger bang for the […] Read more
Get ready for improved pest control
Companies offer new products and new actives for coming crop year
Tribulations and field trials
Politics as much a concern as the weather and agronomics
I’m hoping by the time this column appears in print that all road and railway blockades have been removed and truck and rail commerce has returned to normal across the country. If it hasn’t by this March 10 publishing date, we might very well be in a state of war. I was writing this column […] Read more
Hope springs eternal for the 2020 crop year
If weather, markets and politics align even somewhat better, it should make for a good crop year
Believe it or not, exactly the same early-spring conditions persist for the 2020 growing season on all western Canadian farms, according to several producers contacted for the March 10 Farmer Panel — that universal condition? The optimism that a good year lays ahead. None of the panel members exactly stated that things couldn’t get much […] Read more
Alberta kicks off Outstanding Young Farmers year
Just when I thought I knew everything about agriculture
A bright young dairy farming couple from central Alberta is kicking off the 2020 awards year for Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers. Roelof and Mary van Benthem of Spruceview, about 30 km west of Innisfail, were selected in February as Alberta’s regional nominees for the national awards. They are the first of seven regional nominees from […] Read more
Topics of livestock feed and animal health
Animal nutrition conference, May 12 - 14, 2020
If you are an animal nutritionist or otherwise involved with the livestock feed industry, some of the latest research related to feed, nutrition and animal health, will be presented at a mid-May conference in Winnipeg, MB. Participants from across the feed industry will have the opportunity to learn about the latest trends and scientific developments, […] Read more
Some good ol’ reminders about diversification
No crazy ideas about what to do with alfalfa and barley
I must admit I haven’t heard much about farm “diversification” in recent years. And maybe that just means everyone these days is already diversified to the max so there is no need to talk about it. I think back 15 or 20 years and there were many actively promoted diversification schemes (and some of them […] Read more
Rancher help needed to answer: “Does it pay to deworm?”
If you have some yearlings heading out to pasture this season and can help veterinary researchers with a parasite study, there may be more rewards in store beyond what your good deeds will find in heaven. The Western College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Calgary Veterinary Medicine school are looking for producers to […] Read more
War on weeds, take no prisoners
Hart Attacks: It will take money and commitment to just to hold enemy line
A recent issue of the Manitoba’s provincial farm newspaper, the Manitoba Co-operator, carried some depressing news. The province might be losing the war on herbicide resistant weeds; reports from the U.S. say despite some kind of trade deal with China, U.S. farmers figure they will need more than a $25 billion bailout in 2020 — […] Read more
TruFlex is game-changing tech for canola
Improved traits in hybrid varieties give growers more options
Flexibility is the name of the game when it comes to some of the new features in canola varieties this year. Some varieties have been developed to handle higher rates of glyphosate with a wider window of application, while others have dual herbicide tolerance, and will give farmers a choice to use one or two […] Read more
Drone provides a new field perspective
Ground truthing is still important, but drones can identify problem areas
Randi Wenzel says even basic operation of a drone over annual crops and pastures on their south-central Saskatchewan mixed farm provides some very useful management information, along with some peace of mind. Wenzel, who farms with family members south of Central Butte, has been flying a drone during the cropping and grazing seasons for the […] Read more