Am I the only one who thinks it’s a bit odd that the U.S. is working on major new trade agreements with China, and yet there is no mention of getting China to take the strangle hold off Canadian ag exports. Maybe positive things are happening behind the scenes, but as the U.S. is about […] Read more
U.S. and China talk trade, no mention of Canada
Hart Attacks: There’s a good chance Canada’s help could go unrewarded
Precision planter research is encouraging
Still many questions about how it would fit for grains, pulses and oilseed crops
Southern Alberta researchers say there is increasing evidence that seeding a wide range of western Canadian field crops with a vacuum or precision planter makes sense, but they need co-operative weather to prove it. That’s how Ken Coles and Lewis Baarda with the Lethbridge-based Farming Smarter applied research organization sum up results of several years […] Read more
Nothing easy about wild boar control
Hart Attacks: They roam from B.C. to Quebec pretty much doing what they want
I won’t joke about the escalating wild boar problem in Western Canada, because there really doesn’t seem to be anything to joke about. Boy, what a gnarly problem these feral pigs have become across most of Canada and several of the U.S. states. Of all the things farmers have to worry about, who thought wild […] Read more
Finding the fit for premium fertilizer products
Good for reducing the environmental footprint, crop production and management
Enhanced efficiency fertilizer (EEF) products that provide a range of benefits in terms of crop production and management, as well as environmental benefits, are likely to play an increasingly important role in coming years of Western Canadian crop production, says Mario Tenuta, a University of Manitoba soil scientist. The products, with familiar brand names such […] Read more
Agriculture: With an industry that special…
Hart Attacks: So-called belt tightening around the middle is more of a noose around the neck
Fortunately, I have a solution to how Albertan and other western Canadian farmers can handle the recently imposed federal government carbon tax — just pass this increasing operating cost onto consumers. It is that simple. Oh, wait, come to think of it that doesn’t work — farmers are the consumers, or at least have no […] Read more
Eastern farms capture Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers awards
P.E.I and Que. Farmers selected from nominees as national winners
The national awards for Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers (COYF) stayed east in 2019 as Justin and Laura Rogers of Brae, P.E.I., and Simon Michaud and Mylène Bourque of Kamouraska, Que. were chosen in December as overall winners from seven regional OYF finalists from the across the country. At competitions hosted by the Atlantic Canada OYF […] Read more
Herbicide “layering” strategy delivers multiple punches
Effective for weed control and reduces risk of herbicide resistant weeds surviving
Corey Loessin has for several years been delivering the one/two and sometimes multiple punches through the pulse crop weed control program on his northwest Saskatchewan farm. Primarily growing red lentils and yellow peas near Radisson, northwest of Saskatoon, Loessin says his main objective is to use different products with varying modes of action to control […] Read more
U.S. and China fence mending apparently ignores Canada
It is interesting to me that the U.S. is about to sign the first level of a new trade deal with China, and there appears to be no thought to a condition such as “provided China takes its foot off the throat of the Canadian canola industry.” I am not seeing anything like that. Granted […] Read more
Be smart about snowmobiling
Editor’s Note: The message comes out of Manitoba but it applies to anyone planning to snowmobile this winter — use the common sense side of the brain. With a number of snowmobile trails in Manitoba expected to open this month, STARS, Snowmobilers of Manitoba Inc. (Snoman) and Lifesaving Society Manitoba have come together to encourage the […] Read more
Wily wireworm remains a mystery
Lack of effective control allows pest to flourish
Dallas Leduc says he hasn’t noticed any particular yield losses he can blame on wireworm damage in crops on his southern Saskatchewan, grain, oilseed and pulse crop operation, but then for many years they’ve also made a point of using recommended seed treatments as well. “The pest is out there and we may have the […] Read more