It maybe far out thinking in an era dominated by new technology that promises to give control, define, push limits and make everything bigger, faster, stronger, and more efficient in life, but let’s see what earth worms and soil microbes – which have been around since the dawn of dirt- can do in improving crop […] Read more
Quit fighting it and learn to work with Nature
I’m at the academy of learning (soil health)
I figured Manning, AB in Alberta’s Peace River region would be a good place to re-launch this blog that has been sitting dormant way too long. I arrived in Manning Wednesday afternoon –about 900 clicks north of Calgary — to attend the first-in-Canada Soil Health Academy School. (I’m sure I will be filled with so much […] Read more
Ventilation system takes chill off
Capturing the heat from stale air helps reduce this barn’s heating bill
Capturing at least some of the heat from stale or “old” air being exhausted from poultry and hog barns is one more step in developing intensive livestock operations with net zero energy barns. The net zero term means a barn is producing as much energy as it is using. Two poultry barns in Alberta, for […] Read more
Interesting twist on high cost of farmland
These high prices are great news for sellers, but they leave buyers out of the game
Just about every farmer I talk to in all parts of the country has a common buyer’s complaint — they want to expand their farming operation but land prices are high. It is difficult for established family farms to grow and new farmers are finding it almost impossible to get into the business on land […] Read more
Never mind Trump, Montana is open for business
Regardless of what U.S. President Donald Trump thinks about Canadian agriculture… (go ahead call him a ________________(fill in the blank)), not all Americans have the same view. Montana grain buyers and millers have been interested in Canadian grains ever since the Canadian Wheat Board folded, and recently business development reps from the Great Falls, Mt. […] Read more
Niche market wheats are coming soon
Reduced-gluten wheat just the first of several geared to consumer tastes
While your everyday, even high quality, hard red spring wheat isn’t doing so well in the marketplace right now, a biotech company in Davis, California, is launching a new reduced-gluten HRSW. Arcadia Biosciences also has other wheats with distinctive health-benefit traits in its pipeline. Arcadia is hopeful that introducing these non-GMO traits into wheat will […] Read more
Tragedy helps us find sense of community
Tragic accident brings back memories of communities, and a new search for them
With the nation and a good part of the world riveted for a couple of weeks on the tragedy of the bus crash north of Tisdale, Saskatchewan, in early April that resulted in the death of 16 members of Humboldt Broncos hockey club, there was one uplifting message: Canadian and, perhaps more broadly, human compassion […] Read more
Farmers hoping for a balance in moisture
As spring finally takes hold, producers report a wide range of seeding conditions
The 2018 seeding season is starting out as a Goldilocks year for many western Canadian farmers — with conditions ranging from too dry, or too wet, they are looking for that middle ground that is “just right.” Producers in parts of Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan are reporting enough moisture to get the crop started, but […] Read more
Edge herbicide approved for use with hemp
Established chemistry increases weed control options in specialty crop
Will Van Roessel may be reducing hemp acres on his southern Alberta farm this year, reflecting market signals over increasing world production, but he will be using Edge herbicide to help control pre-emergent weeds. Van Roessel who along with family members operates Specialty Seeds near Bow Island, just west of Medicine Hat, says Edge is […] Read more
We’re going somewhere in a handbasket
We could take the train to get there, but unfortunately there are no rail cars
The movement and marketing of natural resources vital to western Canadians isn’t that important — oil and grain can wait. Let’s focus on the real priority — getting cannabis into the hands of consumers. And maybe that’s the strategy. Get people high on marijuana and then they won’t really notice that governments aren’t doing anything. […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
