Growing potatoes in Prairie farm gardens should be relatively easy if you’re able to anticipate and avoid the usual problems.

Let’s meet the potato family

Part 4 of a series on Prairie farm gardens

The potato is a member of the solanum or Solanaceae family, made up of thousands of wild and cultivated species that range from deadly nightshade to tomatoes. Commonly cultivated in farm gardens are potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and tomatillos. Members of this family also include petunias, lobelias, tobacco and common weeds such as black nightshade […] Read more

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U.S. dicamba ruling won’t touch Canada: Bayer

Thousands of American farmers who have already bought the herbicide now in a bind after court bans over-the-top use

An Arizona court decision that essentially prohibits American farmers from using dicamba for over-the-top spraying on soybeans and cotton will not stop Canadian growers from using the herbicide this year, says Bayer Crop Science Canada.


Photo: Thinkstock

Prairie wheat weekly outlook: Prices down, especially for durum

Weaker Canadian dollar lends support, K.C., Chicago and Minneapolis wheat put pressure on prices

Wheat prices across the Canadian Prairies pulled back during the week ended Feb. 8. While there were moderate declines in Canadian Western Red Spring Wheat and Canada Prairie Red Spring Wheat, there were sharper losses for Canadian Western Amber Durum.

(GrainsConnect.com)

USDA raises U.S. carryout, tightens Brazilian production

World wheat carryout estimate downgraded, but well above previous year

Projected ending stocks of soybeans, corn and wheat in the United States were raised slightly higher in the latest supply/demand estimates from the United States Department of Agriculture, while production estimates for Brazil were revised lower.


Grain bins in a Saskatchewan field. (MysticEnergy/iStock/Getty Images)

Less Canadian wheat, more canola on hand to end 2023: StatCan

Some had anticipated even larger on-farm canola stocks, given slower export pace

Canadian wheat stocks at the end of 2023 were considerably tighter compared to the previous year, with oats, corn and pulse crops also seeing supply reductions, according to the latest stocks report from Statistics Canada, released Feb. 8, 2024. However, canola, barley and soybean stocks as of Dec. 31, 2023, were higher compared to the previous year.

a 60-foot Pillar disc drill to seed hard red spring wheat

Earlier-than-early seeding

These farmers use soil temperature, rather than the calendar, to time seeding wheat

Not long ago, brothers Matthew and Farley Gould, who farm in east-central Alberta, had no idea of the resiliency of wheat seedlings against adverse growing conditions. But over the past three growing seasons they’ve seeded part of their hard red spring wheat crop early. How early? Soil temperatures have barely thawed, and germinated seedlings have […] Read more