Weather & Production Tips

Update your emergency plan and consider a wide range of ‘what-if’ scenarios, says Rebecca Husted, an expert in emergency planning for livestock. (Supplied photo)

Ahead of any emergency, plan for the worst

Disaster planning is not a pleasant task but it's vital that producers have a plan, expert says

By Alexis Kienlen, GFM Network News March 21, 2020

Identify your resources and review your plan, says an expert in emergency planning for livestock. The COVID-19 pandemic is a very different type of emergency, said Rebecca Husted, a teacher of technical large animal emergency rescue. “Most disasters like fires and floods have people moving around, but in COVID-19, people are not supposed to move […] Read more

File photo of a chickpea crop in India. (Nikhil Patil/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Reuters, Weather

Unseasonal rain, hail damage winter crops in India

Crop quality issues may pressure prices

By GFM Network News March 17, 2020

New Delhi | Reuters — Unseasonal torrential rains and hailstorms have damaged the winter-planted crops of millions of Indian growers, inundating wheat, potato, chickpea and rapeseed farms in large parts of the fertile northern plains, farmers said. Most farmers were caught by surprise by the repeated rain and hail that has lashed fields full of […] Read more

Sea surface temperature anomalies (°C) over the tropical Pacific for the week centred on March 4, 2020. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

General, Reuters, Weather

U.S. forecaster sees 65 per cent chance of no spring El Nino, La Nina

By Reuters, GFM Network News March 12, 2020

Reuters — There is about a 65 per cent chance that neutral weather conditions will prevail in the Northern Hemisphere this spring with no El Niño or La Niña, up from 60 per cent last month, a U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation-neutral (ENSO) weather pattern is marked by average […] Read more

General, Weather

Business risk management program reforms in development

Changes expected to be announced in July

By GFM Network News March 11, 2020

Recommendations are now being crafted for Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on how to improve business risk management (BRM) programs for farmers in Canada. It’s expected changes to BRM programs will be announced in July when Bibeau and her provincial counterparts meet in Guelph. The recommendations are coming after a study by MPs on the Commons […] Read more

Barley, Crops, Markets, Weather

Feed weekly outlook: Soft demand weighs on prices

By GFM Network News March 6, 2020

MarketsFarm — Feed grain prices on the Prairies remain soft ahead of spring planting, due to quiet demand from feedlots. “Feedlots are full of grain right now,” Brandon Motz of CorNine Commodities at Lacombe, Alta. said, explaining that there’s currently a lot of grain in feeding pipelines. “Spring replacement into feedlots has been really slow.” […] Read more

Chickpeas in India. (Nikhil Patil/iStock/Getty Images)

Crops, Markets, Pulses, Weather

Pulse weekly outlook: Conditions optimal for India’s winter crops

By GFM Network News March 3, 2020

MarketsFarm — Cold weather in key growing regions of India could indicate high production levels for winter pulse crops. Heavy showers and colder temperatures in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh created “ideal conditions” for winter-sown pulses, according to India’s agriculture commissioner SK Malhotra. Malhotra explained that the output of the winter-grown pulse crops will likely […] Read more

Spring runoff flows through a control structure on the Assiniboine River near Portage la Prairie, Man. in 2014. (MarketsFarm photo by Glen Hallick)

General, Weather

Chances of flooding in Manitoba depend on weather

By GFM Network News February 28, 2020

MarketsFarm — Manitoba has issued its spring thaw forecast of 2020 — with high water levels coming for the Red River. That’s due to significant soil moisture levels left over from the fall and above-normal snow levels in the river’s U.S. watershed. “Our focus is currently on the Red River, where we are expecting a […] Read more

Crops, Machinery, Weather

Tile drainpipe supplier AccuPipe changes hands

Pipe manufacturer back with previous Manitoba owner

By GFM Network News February 21, 2020

Winkler drain tile manufacturer AccuPipe is back with its previous owners after a six-year stint under U.S. management. Precision Land Solutions (PLS) announced Friday it has bought the AccuPipe business — which makes HDPE tubing for the farm, commercial and construction tile drainage markets — from Minnesota-based manufacturer Prinsco for an undisclosed sum. AccuPipe had […] Read more

Livestock, Weather

More tax deferral zones announced for ranchers

Final list released for 2019 tax year

By Glacier FarmMedia staff, GFM Network News February 18, 2020

More ranchers who were up against a dry 2019 may now be eligible to defer some income from their livestock sales for the income tax year. The federal government on Tuesday released the “final list” of designated regions where income tax deferral on sales of breeding livestock has been authorized for 2019. In a prescribed […] Read more

BASF’s dicamba production facility in Beaumont, Tex. (BASF.com)

Crops, Reuters, Weather

Peach grower awarded US$265 million in dicamba drift suit

By Reuters, GFM Network News February 17, 2020

Reuters — A Missouri jury’s US$265 million award to peach grower Bill Bader in his lawsuit against herbicide providers Bayer and BASF has raised the stakes for the two companies as at least 140 similar cases head to U.S. courts later this year. A jury in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, handed Bader, […] Read more

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