A farm kid gets married and reflects on her life-longplace as a part of the farming community
At harvest, whatever cab I happen to find myself in is my cocoon of creature comforts. I have my beverages — both caffeinating and lubricating; my snacks for both sustenance and entertainment; a phone which connects me to the outside world by letting me talk to friends and neighbours with a few finger taps or […] Read more
Many farmers are looking at State-side selling opportunities. Sarah Weigum digs into the details
Here in the brave new post-single desk world I hear a lot of curious chatter from farmers thinking about hauling their own wheat and barley to the United States. Of course, Canadian pulse and oilseed producers have always been allowed to sell their production to the U.S. so this is not entirely uncharted territory. Other […] Read more
Sarah Weigum’s advice for young female Grainews readers in the ag industry
In the summer of 2011 I went to a combine clinic put on by our dealership. I had returned to the farm only a few months earlier and was still finding my footing in a new-again world. There was one other woman at this clinic and I remember thinking, “I don’t want to sit by […] Read more
Farming’s never stress free, but this new crop insurance program could help
Alberta farmers: are your dreams of growing coriander stymied by the perils of farming without insurance coverage? Would you try your luck with fields of clover if only there was a backstop in case of a drought or grasshopper invasion? Then the new crop insurance initiative (NCII) from Alberta’s Agricultural Financial Services Corporation (AFSC) is […] Read more
Check your herbicide history before seeding those sensitive fabas this spring
Judging from the tweets I read and the phone calls I received during and after Saskatoon’s Crop Production Week in January, fababean fever has hit Saskatchewan much like it hit Alberta about a year ago. It’s not very often that Albertans get to give their eastern neighbours tips on producing pulses, but it seems that […] Read more
In Seoul, on the 2nd leg of her trade and export mission
In my last column I covered the Japan leg of a 10-day trade mission in Asia. After tasting the best ramen and okonomoyaki (a cabbage pancake topped with meat) that Osaka had to offer, we flew to Seoul, South Korea. We attended a briefing at the Canadian embassy where we learned that Koreans tend to […] Read more
Sarah Weigum travels to Japan to learn more about international ag sales
If it hadn’t been such a rainy harvest, I may not have found myself on a flight to Tokyo last November. I can’t remember if I was waiting for a shower to dry up or the snow to melt, but one morning in early September I read an article in one of the farm papers […] Read more
When the next generation moves home to the farm, it’s a time for change and role re-evaluation
I am somewhat late for the season of “year in reviews,” so I thought I’d do one better and review, briefly, my last three years on the farm. In May 2015 it will be four years since I moved back to the farm, so I’ve been through four crop seasons. When I moved back to […] Read more
Farmers need plant breeders to keep developing new varieties and breeders need farmers to buy their seed
Have you been reading articles about UPOV ’91, Plant Breeder’s Rights or Bill C-18 over the last several months? Does all the jargon leave you confused? Angry? Ambivalent? Considering the number of my fellow farmers who tell me that they bought some new variety of seed from their neighbour, I suspect that a lot of […] Read more
Two new hybrid varieties, ergot research and some all-too willing volunteers
My last column on fall rye yielded a surprising amount of positive feedback from readers, so I’m plunging ahead with Part 2. Last month I discussed some agronomics and some niche marketing opportunities with fall rye. This issue I’m discussing new research on an old crop and what to do about those persistent rye volunteers. […] Read more
