What’s the world coming to? When it comes to well managed farming operations recognized as Outstanding Young Farmers it appears to be leaning toward a natural field cropping operation in Saskatchewan and an organic market garden operation in Quebec. Derek and Tannis Axten of Axten Farms Ltd. near Minton, Sask., and Véronique Bouchard and François Handfield of Mont-Tremblant, […] Read more
Sask. and QC couples earn national OYF honours
Working with natural systems appeals to OYF-winning diversified producers
USGS finds more dirt for growing crops
Until we defrost Greenland this could be all we’ve got
Much like the excitement I feel when I find a missing sock behind the clothes dryer, I am sure that is what the US Geological Survey (USGS) experienced when it recently discovered more cropland in the world. And they didn’t just find one sock, it was a whole outfit. The USGS recently reported that further […] Read more
Extra canola inputs appear to pay off
That 100-bushel yield still a bit elusive, but growers are pushing their fields to the limits
David Harrish figures the extra agronomic attention he paid to a Canola 100 contest plot on his north-central Alberta farm in 2017 would probably pay off for the rest of his canola acres. Harrish, who dished out some extra TLC to about 70 acres of Pioneer Hi-Bred canola this past season, says it produced about […] Read more
Grower keen to see what canola can do
It wasn’t a 100-bushel crop, but Merle Klassen is getting closer and enjoying the challenge
A fleet of new green machinery around the farm would probably look good, but Merle Klassen says if nothing else comes of the Canola 100 contest, at least he’s enjoying the challenge of trying to optimize canola yields on his south-central Alberta farm. Klassen who has been involved in both the 2016 and 2017 years […] Read more
Drumroll for the 2017 Canola 100 challenge results
Results of the second year of the contest to find a 100-bushel canola yield to be announced this week
Is the “green” going home this year? That’s the question that will be answered this first week of December as the results of the 2017 Canola 100 challenge are revealed at the Agri-Trend Agrology Farm Forum conference in Calgary. This is the second year of the three-year Canola 100 contest challenging canola growers from across […] Read more
Mother Nature shreds canola contest plans
Two major hail events takes 2016 yield leader out of the running
Mike Nelson is all too familiar with the fact you can plan the best possible agronomy program for canola, but Mother Nature has to sign off first. Nelson, who farms with family members near Westaskiwin, Alta., was the yield leader in the 2016 Canola 100 challenge producing a verified yield of 81.6 bushels per acre […] Read more
They sure don’t milk cows like they used to
Hart Attacks: The original Hart dairy farm was nothing like the high-tech operations running today
I know I am the crop and livestock expert for Grainews (NOT) — fact is I’m just old, and no expert on anything — but every time I write a story about a dairy farming operation today, I can’t help but recall some childhood memories, growing up on an Eastern Ontario dairy farm. This past […] Read more
Canada’s OYF: Nominees from Ontario
Dusty Zamecnik puts heart into diversified berries and beer operation
Getting and keeping Canadian greenhouse operators into the winter strawberry production business is a passion for Ontario farmer Dusty Zamecnik. And he’s not just focused on Canadian berry production — that’s already gaining some ground in Ontario, and B.C. with a small start in Alberta. But, some of the 16 million strawberry plants he produces […] Read more
Canada’s OYF: Nominees from Atlantic Canada
For Lauchie and Jolene MacEachern, fine-tuning management improves production
For the MacEachern family keeping their dairy cows, of course well fed, but also equally important — comfortable — is helping improve the efficiency and productivity of their central Nova Scotia dairy farm. Since they’ve have been owners of the Folly River Farm near Debert, N.S. for the past five years, Lauchie and Jolene MacEachern […] Read more
Canada’s OYF: Quebec nominees
Francois Handfield and Veronique Bouchard embrace organic farming
They were two non-farmers who started out with $500, a wheelbarrow and a dream. Less than 10 years later, Francois Handfield and Veronique Bouchard have a thriving organic market garden, community shared agriculture business supplying produce to about 4,000 people, they employ up to 20 seasonal workers, and gross about $800,000 annually. A lot of […] Read more
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