This is my grandpa, Ernest Hart, getting a field prepared prior to seeding a crop in late 1920s. I don’t think he could have imagined an air seeding system 80 feet wide.

What a difference 100 years can make

Hart Attacks: The crop yields achieved by today’s famers would be a shock for our forefathers

As a new growing season begins, I am always impressed with the progress farmers have made in pushing the limits on crop production — striving to be more efficient, using improved agronomic practices and technology to increase yields and hopefully outsmart Mother Nature. I worked on a story earlier this year that described some global […] Read more

grain bins and barley field

Would your farm pass the stress test?

When you pencil out 
your farm budgets, 
calculate some “what if” 
scenarios as well

New provincial guidelines for estimating 2017 crop production costs are being released across the Prairies. These guidelines can help producers predict their operating costs, breakeven yields and profitability. Producers should also be doing a “stress test” to see how much deviation from those predictions the farm can actually bear without losing money, is the advice […] Read more





(Dave Bedard photo)

Canada harvests bigger wheat, canola crops despite snowy fall

Reuters — Canada’s wheat and canola crops withstood unfavourable autumn weather, topping Statistics Canada’s previous estimates and last year’s production, according to the government agency’s report on Tuesday. The estimates were met with greater skepticism than usual from traders and analysts, as StatsCan surveyed farmers during unusually snowy, then mild, autumn weather that raised fears […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

StatsCan’s canola estimates taken with grain of salt

CNS Canada — Statistics Canada’s latest crop production estimates are in and while they may raise a few eyebrows, the numbers aren’t likely to cause havoc in the markets, according to most trade analysts. StatsCan on Tuesday pegged canola production in 2016-17 at 17 million tonnes. That compares to pre-report ideas of 15.9 to 20 […] Read more


(PortoDoItaqui.ma.gov.br)

Globalized economy seen more susceptible to weather extremes

Barcelona | Thomson Reuters Foundation — The globalization of the world’s economy this century has made it far more vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather, including heat stress on workers, scientists said Friday. A study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Columbia University showed production losses caused by high temperatures, predicted […] Read more



(Dave Bedard photo)

Huge Canadian canola crop beats expectations

CNS Canada — An upward revision to Canada’s 2015-16 canola crop was widely anticipated in the industry, but Statistics Canada’s latest survey results have surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts — and will lead to major adjustments in the country’s supply/demand balance sheet. StatsCan on Friday pegged the year’s canola production at 17.2 million tonnes, […] Read more

(Dave Bedard photo)

Bigger crops anticipated ahead of StatsCan report

CNS Canada –– Canada’s harvest ended up better than expected in 2015-16, with upward revisions expected for the country’s wheat and canola production when Statistics Canada releases its latest survey data Friday. “It turns out that the crop didn’t suffer as much in Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said Jerry Klassen, manager of the Canadian office for […] Read more