October 17 should be a national holiday in Canada. I don’t know if you are as excited as I am to know that the recreational use of cannabis — marijuana, pot, weed — becomes legal tomorrow. Who has been able to sleep? Is the excitement over the prospect of legal pot overwhelming the rural Canadian community […] Read more
Cannabis Day – a national holiday
Species diversity is key to year-round grazing
Annual seedings provide important support to perennial pastures
Ben Stewart believes in using a diverse mix of annual, biannual and perennial forages in his summer pasture and winter feeding program to improve rates of gain on his cattle, reduce winter feeding costs and improve soil health. The fact that he also works with a company that sells forage seed might make him a […] Read more
Well here is a game changing concept
Profitable crop production with little or no added inputs. Is someone talking nonsense?
Talk about an interesting contrast in messages! In one week during my summer travels I attended a first-in-Canada Soil Health School in Manning (Alberta Peace River region) and a few days later I was eating dust at a tillage demonstration at the Ag In Motion farm show at Langham, Sask. My old brain had to […] Read more
Ontario report backs value of glyphosate
Thirty years of crop data support economic and environmental value
The value of glyphosate to the agriculture industry, the economy and the environment is getting a bad and uninformed wrap from critics, say two long-time experts in agronomy and pesticide regulation fields who have reviewed a mountain of data compiled by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) which shows just the opposite. […] Read more
Barley fodder feeds organic livestock
You might want to keep the kids at home for some relatively cheap labour if you plan to switch your 200 or 300 head beef cow-calf operation to a fairly labour intensive livestock production method that’s part of what’s known as the permaculture system. However, for smaller, mixed farming, multi-species operations looking to produce specialty […] Read more
You never know who’s out there
From a small town in the Basque country to the passenger seat of Lee Hart’s car
I don’t usually pick up hitchhikers. Partly because I really don’t see that many on the roads I travel, and largely because I usually have so much stuff — snacks, drinks, assorted wrappers, garbage, camera bag, briefcase — piled on my passenger seat that it becomes a major project to make room for someone. But I recently made an […] Read more
Ray Dowbenko changing hats
Retirement came earlier than respected, but he still plans to contribute
Western Canadian farmers aren’t losing a valuable resource, but a long-time soil fertility specialists and agronomist will be heading off in a new direction this fall, as Ray Dowbenko wraps up a 30-year career with a major fertilizer company. Dowbenko, who spent more than 20 years often recognized as the frontline man who figured out […] Read more
From barley seeding to beer sipping
Long-time Alberta farmers tap into vertical integration with malt barley
The photo above may look like some Alberta grain farmers taking a break in a barley field, but they are really brewery executives collecting inventory for an inter-national microbrewing industry. These are members of the Hilton family (Hilton Ventures) a fifth-generation farm near Strathmore, Alta., (just east of Calgary) and they are farmers having a […] Read more
Winter wheats get better and better
New winter wheats improve on yield, disease and quality; some with specialty appeal
Several promising new lines of milling winter wheat are coming along for cereal crop producers across Western Canada over the next couple of years, says an Agriculture Canada winter wheat breeder. Rob Graf, based at the Lethbridge Research Centre says producers in all parts of the prairies should be watching for a new line called […] Read more
Ag In Motion rolling for 2018
Boy, did I get my Ag In Motion yesterday. Day 1 of the fourth annual farm show near Langham, Sask and it was hot. Like 34 degrees. I’m not really a 34 degree person, but I toughed it out. Part of the day I was on volunteer duty that involved crowd control at the tillage […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
