Zone till great for wet clay soils

Zone tillage is the practice of cultivating a band of soil about 21 cm (eight inches) wide, while leaving the areas between these tilled zones as no-till. Zone tillage has been around since the early 1990s. Over the last five to 10 years, this tillage system has gained in popularity. Dr. Craig Drury, research scientist […] Read more

Grain companies and production data

Like farmers, grain companies use government production forecasts 
to help determine where markets are going

Grain companies and marketing firms use a variety of sources of information to estimate crop production and yield as well as beginning and ending stocks and predicted seeded areas for the next crop year. Getting the information Depending on a company’s resources, it might have access to internally produced information as well as information that […] Read more


Fall barley markets

Editor’s note: The numbers and forecasts included in this article were prepared on October 21. Market changes may have occurred between then and now. The 2013-14 world barley production has bounced back from 2012-13 and is forecast at 142.3 MT, a 10 per cent increase from last year’s 129.5 MT. The EU’s crop is up […] Read more

Crop forecasting in Canada

Stats Can’s crop production estimates can have a big impact on prices. 
Find out how they come up with these numbers


Statistics Canada (StatsCan), a federal government department, conducts the farm surveys that obtain information about crop production, seeded areas, harvested areas, expected yields and production in Canada. Stats Can surveys The surveys are fielded in a series of six data collection periods and the information is released at pre-scheduled, strategic times during the calendar year. The intention […] Read more


New triticale varieties offer wheat alternative

Triticale, a human-made hybrid of wheat and rye, has never enjoyed the popularity of either of its parent crops in Canada. However, researchers have found that triticale varieties offer so many benefits to western Canadian farmers that it may soon be included in their ranks. And if it doesn’t, it should. Traditionally, farmers have avoided […] Read more

Bringing soybeans to the field

Soybean acreage in Manitoba and Saskatchewan has rocketed up in 
recent years. Most of this growth is due to Ron Gendzelevich

If you ask western Canadian farmers when soybeans were first commercially grown in Manitoba, most would probably guess sometime around 1998. But soybeans have actually been grown in Manitoba for much longer than that — since 1992. Their numbers have increased dramatically with thanks almost entirely to one man, Ron Gendzelevich, owner and President of […] Read more


Seed-placed fertilizer safety

How much seed-placed fertilizer is safe? Pat Beaujot says 
any seed-placed fertilizer is risky business

The cold, late spring this year brought many farmer questions regarding seed-placed fertilizer and how much starter fertilizer including phosphate (P) could be safely seed-placed. My answer is that with today’s seeding equipment and optimally placed side-band fertilizer, any amount of seed-placed fertilizer is too much! Why risk fertilizer toxicity and jeopardize germination and emergence when you […] Read more

Bleaching grain

Fall rain can mean bring lower quality wheat and fewer hard vitreous kernels

An untimely rain just before harvest can cause wheat kernels to “bleach” or whiten and can lead to some loss in quality that can cause downgrading at the elevator. Bleaching of grain kernels is caused by wet conditions at or near maturity when alternate wetting and drying causes tiny fissures because the grain expands when […] Read more


Barley bred in Alberta

Bentley barley, a variety bred for its malting properties, was introduced into the marketplace this year after Canada Malting contracted 30,000 tons of it to Alberta and Saskatchewan farmers. This is the first malt barley bred by Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development (AARD) to be commercially contracted for malt. Dr. Patricia Juskiw, Alberta Agriculture and […] Read more

Diversity in the soil

A teaspoon of soil might just look like dirt, but soil scientists see a complex ecosystem affected by everything from crop rotations to fertilizer


Using DNA technology, researchers are finding that microbial diversity in the sea is huge, said Dr. Marcia Monreal, soil microbiology scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. “But (their results) suggest the diversity in the soil is much larger.” Monreal explained that there is a food chain in the soil that includes bacteria plus other creatures […] Read more