While the downsizing of the Canadian beef herd continues, in my uneducated guess it must be getting near the bottom. And I say that simply because I also read the U.S. beef industry is at least showing the first signs of rebuilding and in past experience, the Canadian industry usually tracks just a few months […] Read more
Is There A Future In Beef?
Are Crop Enhancement Products Worth The Cost?
At least some western Canadian farmers are viewing an ever-increasing buffet of micronutrient blends, foliar sprays and other soil and plant enhancement products with some caution, if not skepticism. Several producers contacted at random for thoughts on new crop production aids for this issue of Farmer Panel say either they haven’t tried them, or are […] Read more
In Praise Of The Magic Rock
I just glanced through 7,600 on-line articles talking about the virtues of a crop enhancement product called Nitrozyme. Actually there were 7,599 articles, mostly from the company and user testimonials, describing how beneficial it was for field crop production, greenhouse crops, specialty crops (like marijuana) and other uses. I only saw one article written in […] Read more
Nothing Wrong With A Little Humour
You may have noticed a recent advertising campaign in the farm media by SeedMaster with two guys standing at urinals and a line in the ad copy about “the big companies are watching us, but really why should we care?” Not everyone loves the ad, but I think it is smart. With a bit of […] Read more
The Case Of The Diabetic Heifer
A rare case of diabetes found in a dairy heifer brought to the University of Calgary veterinary medicine school (UCVM), shouldn’t alarm dairy producers that this is wide-scale animal health risk, but it should underscore the importance of following a proper vaccination program, says a senior instructor. The 19-month-old heifer, which later died and was […] Read more
More Dual-Action Herbicides To Chose From
Western Canadian farmers will have a few new weed control tools in the field in 2011, as crop protection companies introduce new products or products with expanded registrations to the market place. There doesn’t appear to be any dramatic new chemical compound available to farmers this coming season, says a weed control specialist with the […] Read more
The BS of economics
Not sure where you might be buying gas this morning, but fuel prices in Calgary, yesterday, jumped to $1.12 to $1.14 per litre depending where you shop. That’s a nine or 10 cents per litre hike. I know there is a conflict happening in Libya, and I understand the importance of that. Along with having […] Read more
Beef marketing workshops
There will be six one-day workshops across Alberta in early March bringing together cow/calf producers to better understand the beef markets, to discuss insurance price programs, and to identify market opportunities. Cow-Calfenomics 2011–Strategies Moving Forward is a one-day workshop that looks at beef trends, explains some available tools for risk management, and helps cow/calf managers […] Read more
Early March events in southern Alberta
There are three meetings and workshops coming up in southern Alberta farmers should note. March 3, 2011 – The Southern Applied Research Association holds its annual meeting at Bully’s Grandstand, third floor, at Exhibition Park in Lethbridge. The meeting gets underway at 8:30 and runs until 11:30 am. Agenda items include various SARA reports, a […] Read more
Beware of a guy in a trench coat selling eggs
I saw on the news last night where Toronto is in a lockdown mode and may call in the military for assistance after someone found ungraded eggs at a grocery store. I am sure crisis counselors will be brought in to help distraught consumers cope. These eggs were so bad that some even had bits […] Read more