crop yields Archives - Page 2 of 3

A 2017 study maps out predictions for changes to the “water footprint” of rain-fed barley grown in agricultural Alberta. (Science of the Total Environment, March 2018)

University’s ‘Beefier Barley’ billboard binned

By GFM Network News October 1, 2019

A billboard about Alberta barley’s prospects under climate change in the University of Alberta’s ‘Truth Matters’ promotion — a series of ads meant to spark discussion about its researchers’ work — has been winnowed out of the campaign. Jacqui Tam, the Edmonton-based U of A’s vice-president for university relations, announced Sunday it would withdraw the […] Read more

Will the planter become the implement of choice for canola growers as average yields increase?

Crops, Equipment

Will today’s seeding equipment work in a higher-yield future?

Can air drills still deliver efficiency with 80-bushel canola yields?

By Scott Garvey April 23, 2019

When Jeremy Hughes, product manager for seeding and planting implement manufacturer Horsch, makes the rounds to customer events, one of the questions he puts to attendees is this: can the air drill of today still be the implement of choice when farmers expect to grow 80-bushel-per acre canola? “It takes 2.5 to 3.5 pounds of […] Read more

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.

Columns, Hart Attacks

What a difference 100 years can make

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

By Lee Hart June 1, 2017

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

Crops, Features

Making precision ag work for you

Software and technologies are evolving fast. Find the combination that works for you

By Lilian Schaer March 28, 2016

The software and technologies of precision agriculture have changed immensely since early yield monitors were first introduced. More and more tools are now available to cash crop growers to form data sets that help break fields into zones that allow for targeting of inputs and crop varieties specifically to those zones, says Doug Aspinall, a […] Read more

Crops, Weather

Wet, cool weather slows harvest, southeast producers furthest ahead

Saskatchewan Crop Report for the week ending October 5

By Saskatchewan Agriculture October 8, 2015

Wet and cool weather over the weekend has slowed harvest progress for many producers, according to Saskatchewan Agriculture’s Weekly Crop Report. Eighty-four per cent of the crop is now in the bin, up from 74 per cent last week. Twelve per cent is swathed or ready to straight-cut. The five-year (2010-2014) average for this time […] Read more

Euan Evans, plant pathologist points out the value of providing a crop the whole nutrient package to optimize yields.

Crops

Soil testing more relevant than ever

If you don’t know what nutrients are in the soil it’s hard to meet your crop’s needs

By Lee Hart September 3, 2015

To optimize crop yields, Ieuan Evans, a well-known western Canadian plant pathologist, urges farmers to get back to the basics — do a soil test and follow the recommendations. Evans, speaking to farmers at the Ag In Motion farm show near Saskatoon in July says farmers have been advised since the beginning of modern agriculture […] Read more

Crops, Markets, Weather

Trade expects mostly smaller crops in StatsCan report

By GFM Network News August 20, 2015

CNS Canada –– Statistics Canada will release its first survey-based Canadian crop production estimates for 2015-16 on Friday, and figures for most major crops are expected to be down compared to last year. Yields are likely to be all over the map as weather conditions varied vastly from region to region during the growing season. […] Read more

Crops, Weather

Western Prairies see low yields as harvest ramps up

By GFM Network News August 13, 2015

CNS Canada –– This summer’s erratic weather has taken its toll on plant development in Alberta and parts of western Saskatchewan, according to crop-watchers in those areas. “We have heard that dry conditions have caused plants (peas) to slough off or have the tillers dry off and have lost those heads,” said Barry Yaremcio at […] Read more

Cereals, Columns

Farm management: Getting from good to great

Farming is a numbers game. Make sure you  make the most of the details on your farm 

By Brian Wittal June 22, 2015

In March, I spent four days traveling from Grande Prairie to Lethbridge as part of the Leading Edge Farm Management series sponsored by the Alberta Canola Producers Commission and I had the good fortune to be in the company of some very accomplished individuals. Dr. Danny Klinefelter from Texas A+M University who, I would say, […] Read more

man wearing red shirt standing in farmer's field

Canola, Crops, Pulses, Spring Wheat, Winter Wheat

Crop yield and quality all over the map

Wrecks in some places, but surprisingly good in others, say farmers talking about the 2014 harvest

By Lee Hart December 5, 2014

So how was the harvest of 2014? Depending where you on the Prairies it may have set a record for being one of the worst, or slowest in farming memory, while on the other hand, for some it was surprisingly one of the earliest. And quality wise, that ranges across the board too, according to […] Read more

Alberta crop conditions improve: report

U.S. grains: Corn sets contract lows on expectations for big US crop

U.S. livestock: Cattle strength continues

GFM Network News