I think it’s time farmers got tuned in to the environment, adopted good land stewardship and proper animal welfare practices. It’s time to stop pollution of land and water, time to stop growing cancer-causing genetically modified crops and time to stop sticking pins into baby calves and otherwise generally being cruel to livestock. I know […] Read more
Don’t Kid Yourself, YouTube Is Watching
BIXS Is Coming Soon. No, Really It Is
It is one of those good stews that has been on the development burner for a couple years, but the Canadian Cattleman’s Association Beef InfoXchange System (BIXS) should be served up to Canadian beef producers before the snow melts. BIXS is a voluntary, free system that will allow beef producers, and others in the whole […] Read more
Sask Stockgrowers February/March meetings
The Saskatchewan Stockgrowers Association has four more zone annual meetings planned for mid-February through to mid-March. This week, Thursday Feb. 17, the Zone 7 annual meeting will be held at the Beechy Community Hall. The annual meeting gets underway at 4 p.m. followed by dinner at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $20. Speakers on the program […] Read more
It is good no protest is needed
I just sent in a request to head office asking for the next two to three weeks off to protest. Still waiting on that answer. I am not sure what I will protest, but I am sure I can find some good cause – change of government, improved agricultural policy, more beef in Taco Time […] Read more
Farmers Bullish On 2011 Crop
Prairie farmers are hoping it either dries out or they get some moisture over the next few months before seeding, so they can optimize the value of their 2011 fertilizer program. Depending where they farm in Western Canada, farmers contacted for this farmer panel are facing the extremes in soil moisture conditions. In southeast Saskatchewan […] Read more
Alberta Pulses Top A Million Acres
It was a milestone year for Alberta pulse growers in 2010, with the net acreage harvested exceeding one million acres for the first time. Statistics Canada figures showed about 1.1 million acres were seeded in 2010, and of that 1,073,000 acres were harvested, says Mark Olson, Alberta pulse industry development specialist. “It is exciting news […] Read more
3-Day School To Improve Grazing Management
A well-known Western Canada pasture management specialist is offering prairie livestock producers two opportunities to learn how to get more production and profit out of their pastures. Steven Kenyon, of Greener Pastures Ranching Ltd, based at Westlock, Alta. is offering a threeday school in March as well as a one-day pasture walk in July. The […] Read more
A Few Final Comments On Tags
I wouldn’t say the phone has been ringing off the wall, but I have had a few more producers call or email with concerns about the reliability of RFID ear tags. And I can’t devote this space to every last person who may have experienced a problem with lost tags, but I thought I would […] Read more
A $75,000 Lesson: Use Your Yield Monitor
Josh Fankhauser figures a lesson learned from a 100-acre pea plot on his southern Alberta farm is potentially either saving or making him an extra $75,000 a year every time he grows peas. That sounds like a pretty exceptional return, but Fankhauser discovered paying attention to information collected by a simple yield monitor (and the […] Read more
Remembering John Harapiak
John Harapiak dedicated a good part of his working career to improving farmer knowledge on fertilizer placement. It’s a topic that may never earn much space in history books, but thousands of Prairie farmers can thank John for the relative peace of mind they have each spring, to go out and place seed and band […] Read more