While adequate nitrogen is usually the big concern for maximizing yields, a lot of producers want to make sure seedling roots don’t have to go too far after germination to find phosphorus. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient, particularly important in the first five to six weeks of plant growth. It plays a big role in […] Read more
Read on for strategies growers use to get crops growing faster wth more vigour
Mastin Method Lowers Seed Cost
Bob Mastin is banking his seed business on volume. The west-central Alberta seed grower doesn’t have distribution rights to a lot of varieties, but he believes he has good ones. And by doing all he can to reduce costs, he’s hoping more producers will buy more certified seed for high yielding oats and barley varieties […] Read more
Some new crops fit a rotation like a glove, and others could take several years of on-farm trials to determine if they are worth growing
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. That might be the most important first step if you have plans to introduce a new crop into your rotation. Ask the seed companies, ask extension specialists and ask other farmers who have grown the crop for their advice and experience, say farmers who participated in this month’s panel. […] Read more
Introducing a new crop into a rotation begins with research, planning, and testing to make sure it not only makes economic sense, but “feels” right, too
Being able to grow a new crop is one thing, being able to market it is another. Those are probably the two most important points producers need to remember when looking at “new crop” options, say two western Canadian crop production specialists. A new crop is one of two things. It could be a brand […] Read more
The experts say it’s not just catastrophic events –like lightning strikes –that put modern electrical components at risk. There are ongoing daily power events around the house and farm that can wear out equipment and appliances
It took a bolt of lightning to convince Mark and Curt McNaughton it was time they did something to protect the power supply to their central Alberta farming operation. In fact they had two separate, fairly recent lightning strikes that hit farm buildings and a power pole in the yard. There was no significant damage […] Read more
Who’s Is Making Money On Beef?
They are still not giving beef away in my local grocery stores, or pork for that matter, and yet the producers in both these sectors seem to have a chronic struggle to make a profit. What’s wrong with this picture? If it is not the rancher, then who is making money in the beef industry? […] Read more
Things I learned in Saskatoon
Just when I thought I knew it all, (or is it that I didn’t want to learn anymore) I spent a day at the Saskatchewan Beef and Forage Symposium in Saskatoon, this week, and got a bad case of information overload. I was only able to catch 13 of the 17 presentations during the day, […] Read more
Go Flame Go!
We were in Lethbridge yesterday to help welcome the Olympic torch run to southern Alberta. We could have seen the flame and the torch bearers in any number of communities. It is actually in Calgary today for a three-day event before it heads west. We met friends – Adrian and Val Cooke, and son Elliott, […] Read more
If you can get a contract, hard white wheat easily fits into any wheat rotation
“I do find it a bit harder threshing than a red wheat. You have to set the combine to be a bit more aggressive, but otherwise it makes a nice stand and yields well.” Don’t be afraid of hard white wheat. You need an identity preserved (IP) contract to grow it, but beyond that, it […] Read more
Hard White Focus Shifts To Bread
A shift in marketing emphasis has thrown a curve into Canada’s hard white wheat breeding program. While the initial plan was to produce wheats most suitable to Asian noodle markets, the focus has now changed to produce hard white wheat more suitable for the bread market. To farmers and consumers it may not seem like […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
