While there will always be a role for breeding bulls on the farm, a recent Saskatchewan study says producers may want to look at artificial insemination of commercial beef cows, which could put more calves and more pounds of beef on the ground. In the report published late last year by the Western Beef Development […] Read more
AI study produced higher beef profits
Bringing an AI technician onto the farm may make more economic sense than buying more bulls
Fine-tuning replacement heifer savings
Heifer calves still need to grow but perhaps not as much as earlier thought
On a scale of one to 10 do you know what your replacement heifers weigh? It’s not a trick question, but if you’re interested in fine-tuning management to save about $60 per head and produce efficient replacement heifers, using a weigh scale is an important place to start, says an economist with the Western Beef […] Read more
Protected fall N improves efficiency
Nitrogen stabilizer products have a good fit where farm labour and time are limited
Dan Hacault likes to use nitrogen stabilizer products on his farm for time management, convenience, nutrient efficiency, cost effectiveness, and making it easier for him to manage seeding when working by himself… and oh, yes, on-farm field trials show his yields are holding steady as well. Hacault, who has downsized to crop about 1,300 acres […] Read more
Facts about bees, birds are next
Something is afoot in the bee community, but is agriculture really to blame?
We’ve heard a lot about honeybees in the last couple of years, particularly concerns that some crop protection products are a leading cause for the decline in bee numbers. The finger has most recently been pointed at a chemical compound known as the neonicotinoid class of pesticide, which in the past decade or so has […] Read more
PHOTOS: Lots of bull, but people too at Calgary Bull Sale
Breeders were optimistic the opening morning of the 116th Calgary Bull Sale, held in early March at a totally new venue in the barns of the Century Downs Racetrack, at Balzac, just north of Calgary. While the full story would be told over the next couple of days, once the auctions actually started, the 25 […] Read more
CTF delivers improved crop emergence
Consistently higher yields are yet to come, but CTF improves overall efficiency
Steve Larocque is using his precision farming system to get to the root of improved crop emergence, which in the last few seasons appears to be getting about 80 to 90 per cent of the seeds coming out the ground. The word root is used both literally and figuratively for the central Alberta farmer and […] Read more
Digital pictures: They’re worth a thousand steps
Ground truthing is important, but aerial imagery can tell stories you can’t see with the eye
You can’t beat an eye in the sky when it comes to telling you what’s happening on the ground with your crop, says a longtime Iowa crop management specialist. Different types of aerial imagery that show visual differences during the growing season can be an extremely valuable tool for pointing to shortfalls or successes concerning […] Read more
Let’s open the barn doors
Hart Attacks: Positive changes are coming in the livestock production world
As I was recently reading about the Canadian egg industry’s commitment to turn its ocean liner around, I figured a motion was in order — if consumers and the food industry are so concerned about animals produced “free range” or in loose housing, farmers should just turn everything loose and then charge four times as […] Read more
Big fertility package produced a big canola yield
Liquid fertilizer blends seemed to make a difference for this Saskatchewan farmer
Florian Hagmann threw everything he had into producing a quarter section of canola that topped 116 bushels per acre and averaged 111.3 bushels per acre last year. The Saskatchewan farmer, who farms near Birch Hills, northeast of Saskatoon says the input costs pushed his comfort zone, but the real point was to “push the limits” […] Read more
Be on guard for clubroot in canola
Hart Attacks: If it’s in your community, be on the lookout for clubroot in your canola fields this year
I’m using this photo of a flowering crop heavily hit with a pest to make the point to watch out for canola diseases this year — and in particular be on the ball to detect and hopefully prevent clubroot. This southern Alberta farm didn’t expect to be coping with staghead, but it suddenly appeared out […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
