Talk about disparity. It is truly a feast-or-famine year across Western Canada in terms of how much moisture is out there. Near Tisdale, Sask., where only about 50 per cent of land ever got seeded this spring, just two-tenths of rain, as of late June, immediately turns fields into lakes. And in Manitoba’s Red River […] Read more
Water, Water Almost Everywhere – for Jul. 23, 2010
More fuel for rodeo critics
The Calgary Stampede may hand out more than a million dollars in prize money to cowboys, but it also handed one of its most persistent critics a significant propaganda gift following the death of six horses at the 2010 event. While one group in California is calling for a boycott of Alberta in memory of […] Read more
Dealing with too much moisture
Even while waiting for fields to dry out, farmers are reluctant to complain about too much moisture. Particularly producers in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan say too much moisture isn’t great, but there have been many years when they face the hardship of too little moisture. At an indoor “crop walk” in Lethbridge this week about […] Read more
Seeding demo postponed
Due to the fact that southern Alberta has water up to its proverbial boot tops, the AgTech Centre seeding demo near Lethbridge, AB scheduled for this Wednesday has been postponed until June 30. With 10 to 15 inches of rain over the past 10 days and more rain forecast for this week, organizers had […] Read more
June 23 seeding demo at Lethbridge
What’s the best seeding system you can use? The answer to that may always remain a personal preference. But you can get an excellent idea of how six of the leading air seeders and drills compare at a southern Alberta field day coming up Wednesday, June 23. Alberta’s Ag Tech Centre is staging a seeding […] Read more
Saving money using variable rate technology doesn’t happen on every field. Be sure to leave a check strip to ensure you’re getting a decent return on investment
Can you make money with variable rate fertilizer technology (VRT)? The classic answer to that question from one long-time Alberta farm management specialist at a recent workshop: Yes, no and it depends. The economics can be there on some fields and not others, says Ted Darling, who examined the costs and returns on three fields […] Read more
Lowline To The U. K.
Edmonton-area beef producers, the Gotaas family, have recently completed the first export of live beef cattle to the U. K. in nearly two decades. Big Island Lowlines, based near Sherwood Park just east of Edmonton, recently delivered 10 Lowline heifers to a breeder, Clouds Park Farm, at Salisbury, just southwest of London, England. Big Island […] Read more
Whether it is more formal, measured research plots, side-by-side strips or field-scale evaluations, here’s a sample of what some farmers are comparing this year
Do you run your own on-farm trials? We want to know how they went! Contact the editor at [email protected] let us know what you’re evaluating this year. With a new growing season underway, many Prairie farmers will be paying attention over the coming weeks to see what works or doesn’t work with their own version […] Read more
What lesson learned from the great Mammoth kill of ought, ought, ought 13?
I think it is important that North American cattlemen keep those livestock numbers up to avoid the risk of another Ice Age. I’m still on the fence when it comes to issue of Global Warming – is it happening? Why is it happening? And so on… But a recent article I read says it was […] Read more
A complete horse ban is needed
If we really want to get these ‘sickos’ who slaughter horses for meat-sale profit off the street, the only real, long lasting solution is an outright ban on breeding and ownership of any class of horse in North America by anyone– unless you are a card-carrying member of the Amish community. The value of or […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
