This is my good neighbour Iver Johnson with his 9770 and MacDon header cutting peas on the farm of another good neighbour Curtis Block near Dundurn, Sask., on August 16, 2016. The crop yielded 50 bushels per acre of of beautiful white peas. The MacDon header is a real cutting machine and Iver made good time. Curtis and Iver work together and it is a great thrill for this old fossil to watch it all happen. During harvest, Iver traded up to an S 680, so now they have two S 680s at work.

Potashium: fertilizer mergers

In the wake of announced mergers, a look at the history of Prairie fertilizer

The recent proposed merger of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium has generated much discussion about the merits or pitfalls. I have little knowledge of the backroom dealings of huge corporations but am uneasy about companies becoming too large and competition dwindling. The final decision will be up to the Government of Canada Competition Bureau […] Read more



field of flowering mustard

Mustard fertilizer management

In Part 2 of a 4-part series on mustard agronomy, Ross McKenzie talks fertilizer

In the last issue of Grainews, I discussed agronomic management of growing mustard. In this issue we’ll discuss nitrogen requirements; in the next issue, we’ll discuss the other nutrients mustard needs to achieve optimum production. Mustard grown on cereal stubble almost always needs nitrogen fertilizer, frequently needs phosphate fertilizer and occasionally needs sulphur fertilizer. Soil […] Read more

Check out the page on the Alberta Agriculture and Forestry website.

Fertilizer prices, now and into spring

Timing fertilizer purchases is a guessing game. Here’s one expert’s take on the issue

The time to buy fertilizer is now, if you don’t have enough stored up on the farm. December and January, if you look at numbers from the last ten years, is the best time to buy fertilizers if you have the resources and space, says Todd Bergen-Henengouwen, project assistant at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry, because […] Read more





photo: lisa guenther

Future seeds were sown in the past

Consider last year’s crop yields when making plans for next year’s fertility program

This time of year it’s typically a good idea to remind producers that the seeds of our future are sown in the past. Your 2016 crop yields will be influenced by 2015 fertility and removal rates. Basically, we need to look back at the growing season and see how certain factors influenced the current crop, […] Read more