February 23, 2012

Under the Microscope – Putting Germination Tests In Perspective

underthemicslide

Germination tests are standard when it comes to any seed lot. A lot of seed for sale has to tested for germination so that the farmer or seed company can decide whether the seed lot will be suitable for sale.  Farmers that are saving seed also need to make sure that their saved seed will [...]

Gary Pike is Uber Bullish on Ag Commodities

gary pike

The global economic instability of the last year has no doubt rattled investors and left them looking for any kind of a stable place to invest. One of those places has been agriculture. The growing population and the need to feed them has raised the value of the agricultural industry as a whole. The bottom [...]

What is the Future for Micro-Nutrients in Canada?

smallsoybeans

With precision agriculture becoming more mainstream, its apparent that farmers are looking to every means possible to increase production and gain an edge. Micro-Nutrients may be one of those missing pieces of the puzzle when it comes to gaining that edge. Micro-Nutrient companies are on the rise in the U.S. and are starting to show [...]

Talking to Farmers: What Were Your Yields Like In Western Canada?

talking to farmers outdoor farm show

Another year gone and another harvest in the books for farmers in the West. This year had its share of difficulties, with wet conditions delaying and in some cases completely destroying efforts to get a crop in in some areas. For those farmers that did get a crop in, the threat of disease loomed heavy [...]

Under the Microscope: Ergot on the Rise in Harvest Samples Across the West

Ergot

This years harvest samples show an alarming rise in ergot infection in wheat crops. The information comes from a Canadian Grain Commission report that shows upwards of 20 percent of western Canadian wheat crops have some degree of ergot infection. Ergot tolerances are very tight due to the toxic qualities of the ergot body that [...]

Under the Microscope – Harvest Samples Show a Few Surprises in 2011

underthemicslide

RealAgriculture.com is happy to present a new feature segment we call “Under the Microscope”. We have partnered with BioVision Seed Labs to educate and inform producers with respect to what goes on inside the seed lab and hopefully take some of the mystery out of the process. In the first episode we talk to Holly [...]

Blame the People Who Didn’t Vote in the CWB Plebiscite

wheat field

The CWB’s plebiscite has resulted in a marginal victory for the single desk die hards as John Depape expected on RealAgriculture last week.  The next events in this saga will produce predictable outcomes as well in my opinion. Now that the CWB has a form (subject to debate) of approval from farmers they will begin [...]

Can Inland Terminals Survive Without the Single Desk?

LethbridgeInlandTerminal

I have been reading two groups are doomed in the face of the single desk being extinguished. The first is producer cars and the second is the inland terminals. With the elimination of the single desk, the Inland Terminal Association of Canada finds itself faced with a number of challenges to overcome and a number [...]

How Do I Evaluate My Fungicide’s Effectiveness? – Dave Kloppenburg – DuPont

When it comes to spraying fungicide, when it’s all said and done, how do you evaluate whether it was worth it. Did it do the job it was supposed to? Would your crop look the same if you just left it alone? If you didn’t apply a fungicide, should you have? As we have recently [...]

Why Does it Take So Long For New Malt Varieties to be Accepted? – Erin Armstrong, Canterra Seeds

Anyone who grows malt barley knows the number of specifications it has to meet in order to be acceptable. There are some years where those specifications can prove very frustrating to growers. When that barley doesn’t meet specifications, one of the areas that gets the blame is variety, the grain company or the CWB. After [...]