We’re barely into January and already there is change. “The Farm” is gone. It wasn’t my farm, but it was a chunk of pasture and hayland in south eastern B.C. that has been a big part of my life for the past 40 some years. Let’s face it, it was just dirt and grass but […] Read more
New caretakers at Kootenay River Ranch
Another family takes a turn at making a home and memories
New protection products coming from Syngenta
New fungicides and a plant growth regulator in the queue for registration
Registration of a new active ingredient is making it possible for Syngenta Canada to bring several fungicide products to the market with promise of improved disease control in wheat and canola, along with a wide range of other field and horticultural crops. Adepidyn (which is the trade name for pydiflumetofen) is viewed as one of […] Read more
My name is Bob and I have clubroot
Don’t be afraid to let the world know that this disease hit your farm
Finding the first plants or patch of clubroot on your farm is nothing to hide or be ashamed of says Autumn Barnes, an agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. The fact is, she says for farmers in Alberta, and probably most parts of Western Canada, it is a matter of when the disease […] Read more
Canola 100 contest winner sees green
No one achieved a 100-bushel yield, but results were still impressive
As central-Alberta farmer Merle Klassen claims the grand prize, the three-season long contest called the Canola 100 Challenge is all but history for their farm, except for a few hundred hours of quality field time with a fleet of John Deere equipment during the 2019 growing season. Klassen, who along with family members operates Klassen […] Read more
Canola Challenge: learning to feed the world
The idea is to encourage farmers to push the limits and think outside the box
The world needs food and everyone needs a challenge. Put those two things together and you come up with something like the Canola 100 Challenge, that over the past three years piqued the interest of more than 100 Canadian canola growers who put their agronomic and management skills to the challenge of producing a 100 […] Read more
I’m confused about carbon credits
There’s always a lot of talk around GHG, but the action isn’t obvious
I don’t know about anyone else but I have great confusion over anything to do with carbon credits and national/international Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reduction programs. Is there anything real here? Is there anything really happening? I must admit anytime I see something related to carbon credits on an ag conference agenda immediately my head goes […] Read more
Making headlines today – Jan 10, 2019
SMAll BUT POWERFUL I love practical research results that really speak to me. I was reading this morning that researchers in the United Kingdom have determined that people with a few extra pounds around their waist — these even used the word obese— have smaller brains — 12 per cent smaller than people who aren’t over […] Read more
Outstanding Young Farmers awards go to Alberta and Ontario
Diversified farming operations receive national recognition
Two completely different, but well-managed mixed farming operations in Alberta and Ontario were named as Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers (OYF) in early December at the OYF national awards competition in Winnipeg, Man. After winning regional nominations in their home provinces, Craig and Jinel Ference of Double F Farms near Kirriemuir, Alta., and brothers, Jordan and […] Read more
Scientists say it’s all about the soil
Farmers and ranchers need to keep society connected to the land
So a soil scientist steps up to a conference microphone about to deliver a one-hour talk and my first thought — “is 8:30 in the morning too early for a nap?” But not so. What a great talk given by Henry Janzen, a long-time researcher at the Agriculture Canada Lethbridge Research Centre to open the annual […] Read more
Let me save Christmas for you
Lee Hart offers up some early Christmas shopping suggestions to suit everyone
Do you have your Christmas shopping done yet? Come on people there are only 49 days left and for people of a certain age you know how fast days fly by. And have I got a couple good gift ideas for you. I’m not usually an early Christmas shopper, but it was a “gift” I […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
