THE WEEK THAT WAS It may seem an unlikely time of year to be thinking about all things new and exciting, but for agriculture, February offers us a first glimpse at new crop varieties and often new pesticides and programs. As I was putting together this issue, those were the kinds of new things I […] Read more
Wheat &Chaff – for Feb. 28, 2011
Yield-Busters Trials Work To Separate Fact From Fiction
Separating fact from fiction and myth from legend is not for the faint of heart. It is, however, for those that love statistics. Chris Holzapfel, research manager with the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation (IHARF), is one of those people. It’s good news for farmers that he wants to get to the bottom of whether […] Read more
Buy A Hedge Against The Weather
We can’t control the weather, and we’re still only marginally accurate at predicting it more than three days out. A new risk management tool, eWeatherRisk, can’t change that, however the hedging tool allows you to buy some protection against adverse conditions. Brian O’Hearne, president of eWeatherRisk, says these weather risk contracts are financial instruments that […] Read more
Crop Selection For Wet Soils
It could be time to consider a shift in your crop rotations to water-loving and water-using crops. Manitoba farmers in the Red River Valley clued into this some time ago. And it’s no wonder — excess moisture has become the norm in that area. But as the 2011 seeding season looms large, farmers in a […] Read more
Cattle Prices At Historic Highs
Fed cattle prices reached historical highs in January on strong domestic and export demand. U.S. and Canadian beef production during 2010 actually exceeded 2009 and this year over year increase will continue through the first quarter of 2011. Larger placements in the fall period will cause market ready supplies to increase later in spring. However, […] Read more
Wheat &Chaff – for Feb. 14, 2011
HOW’S THE WEATHER? Someone once told me that talking about the weather means you have nothing else to really talk about. That person was clearly not involved in agriculture. Even in an average year, there’s no greater variable to crop production than the weather. In a year with conditions far outside “normal” ranges, there is […] Read more
Wheat &Chaff – for Feb. 7, 2011
A MAN AFTER MY OWN HEART This issue’s cover story was chosen for a specific reason. If you follow along with this column, you should know by now that I just love on-farm field trials. Maybe the word “trial” makes some of you want to quickly turn away, envisioning flagged plots, endless measuring and counting […] Read more
Test All Flax Seed For 2011
Any requirement that adds cost and aggravation to growing a crop is rarely welcomed, but farmers choosing to grow flax this year are being urged to test all flax seed before it goes in the ground. Yes, even if the seed lot used last year tested negative and, yes, even if you used pedigreed seed. […] Read more
How, When And Why To Tissue Test
It’s likely that most farmers would only consider plant tissue testing to diagnose visible problems with their crop. While it is a powerful tool for confirming or discovering nutrient deficiencies, the value of tissue testing has longer-term implications. A plant tissue test can give you a heads up on impending problems before they become acute […] Read more
Wheat &Chaff – for Jan. 24, 2011
FEED THOSE CROPS Ah, food. We humans love it, can’t get enough of it and have long since passed the point of just eating to live. Well, most of us, I suppose. The topic of a growing obesity epidemic in the face of people still going hungry in North America is a topic for another […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
