Our family seed business, Haney Farms, held two plot tours this week which really gave me an opportunity to talk to a great cross section of farmers. One of the concerns that always comes up is the discussion about rising interest rates. Canadian farms are significantly levered even in comparison to our US neighbours. With… Read More
Month: July 2010
The lygus bug is a pest that continues to be a problem for farmers in the west. The need to scout the bug is from bolting on through the crop cycle. The lygus bug can cause significant yield loss and damage to the canola plant. In the early flowering period it can be easy to… Read More
Variety selection can be just as much about the milling quality as it is the agronomic traits. Before and after a variety is registered, companies like the Canadian International Grains Institute (CIGI) work to try and develop markets based on the qualities of the product. One of the qualities of the grain is its dough… Read More
I have been thumbing through the Ontario Farmer lately and it continues to strike me that there seems to be a lack of contentious issue in Ontario this year. Are the crops to good? Is the newly created GFO doing the perfect job? Are farmers making so much money they cannot stand the pains of… Read More
The wheat harvest in Ontario is underway and off to the start that everyone was hoping for. The wheat crop in Ontario has really faced the perfect spring and summer. In this episode of the Wheat School, Peter Johnson, Cereal Specialist, OMAFRA gives us an Ontario wheat harvest update. Peter updates us on yields, disease… Read More
In the Canadian Wheat Board’s effort to provide more options to the Western Canadian farmer the FlexPro contract is back again. The deadline for signing up for the program is the end of the month. I talked to Jonathan Driedger, FarmLink Marketing Solutions on the advantages and disadvantages of the program and whether or not… Read More
How many of you have been at an agricultural meeting and heard the phrase, “the industry needs to speak with one voice.” At first glance this would seem like a very plausible and likely strategy but lets really think about this and analyze it. Do you really think that the cattle lobby will ever really… Read More
One thing this wet spring has taught most of the western Canadian farmers is that maybe canola growers are leaving way too much canola in the field to grow as volunteer the next crop year. Canola volunteers have been very prevalent in the field and one of the ways that this can be minimized is… Read More
One of the oldest traditions in the summer time is for farmers to attend local field days that are hosted by ag-input retailers or government researchers. Depending on where you are in the country you have probably attended many different ones at times for a number of reasons. Many people attend to see the… Read More
Many people look at services like Google from just the front end which is search. Google is really more about the back end application of data. The search engine allows them to collect infinite bytes of data so that they can make advertising revenue from the searcher. The better the data set that Google has… Read More
Many of you have heard the industry talk about the need to develop research initiatives. Without research there is no innovation and Canadian agriculture will begin to lose ground to its international competitors. Across the country provincial and federal government agricultural funding is getting cut which is threatening our ability to compete in the long… Read More
I was somewhat surprised a month ago when I spoke about social media at the North American Consulting School (NACS). The room was full of agriculture consultants whom were all very passionate about the industry. I was expecting a very like warm sort of response to my presentation with a maybe a few fellow self-described… Read More
As if the Western Canadian canola fields have not had enough challenges this year but now we also have to deal with the presence of the diamondback moth. The diamondback moth is really causing havoc this season in comparison to prior years. In this episode of the Canola School, I speak to University of Alberta, Associate Professor… Read More
The Calgary Stampede is back again this year and it is definitely the biggest party in Canada every year. The Stampede has transitioned from a agriculture centric event to one also about the fair, thrill rides and concerts. All things considered the Calgary Stampede still holds its roots in agriculture. With the rodeo, chuck wagon… Read More
As we begin to look ahead to the rest of the canola growing season, many challenges continue to face the grower. This is being looked at as one of the most challenges seasons to date. Instead of looking backwards I thought that it would be fruitful to engage a discussion on the rest of the… Read More