Have you ever been to a farm meeting and there is a speaker talking about the cost of production? Do you ever feel like they are speaking no different than the teacher in Charlie Brown? Farming is business and businesses need to know their cost of production. Guessing your cost per acre is just not… Read More
Year: 2012
We talked before about the spirit of invention and innovation that’s prevalent among Saskatchewan farmers. It seems as though they’re always tinkering with something in the shop or modifying something they bought. I don’t know if it’s long winters with nothing else to do or a lack of equipment or machinery that really suits their… Read More
Volatility was the recurring theme in the cattle industry over 2011. The fact is that the mood created by that volatility has carried into 2012. Even with things looking up for producers, the violent swings of the 2011 market are tempering any optimism with caution. Those sentiments were apparent at this year’s Tiffin Conference as… Read More
Over the past couple of days, I have been reading and seeing a bunch of different articles in relation to keeping young farmers on the farm and attracting first generation farmers. My question? Why is it any different than any other entrepreneurial business. I’m sure that there are tens of thousands of people across Canada… Read More
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association released information this morning that South Korea has lifted its ban on Canadian Beef imports. This news is long overdue and we have to realize that trade resumption doesn’t happen overnight. Learning from our agreement with China, Canada must complete all of the more detailed technical issues as quickly as possible… Read More
Green energy has been a huge push in Ontario agriculture through the development of solar and wind power infrastructure. The solar power subsidization by the McGuinty government has been at the very least controversial at times and now the wind turbine projects has created some stir within the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. The OFA has… Read More
So far, across most of the West, it’s been what can only be described as an odd winter. Parts of the southwest have experienced hurricane force winds, a great portion has seen extended periods of plus temperatures up to now offset by short periods of temperatures in the extreme of up to minus 40. With… Read More
Do you ever wish that something would just happen? Winter this year has been that way. It seems as though everyone is just waiting for the other shoe to fall. One storm comes and we say “here it is, winter’s here!”, only to have rain the following week. The mild weather is nice and all,… Read More
The last time we spoke to Patrick Crampton, we talked about Agrisoma’s research and development of the carinata plant in the area of biofuels. The plant is very similar to canola, but with an industrial oil profile suited well to diesel and jet fuel usage. The agronomics are very similar to canola in the fact… Read More
There are almost always times during harvest where you’re racing to beat some weather event. You’re either combining through what you hope is a short period of rain or in some cases, sadly, snow, and you’re forced to shut down and wait it out or shut down until next morning. You don’t want to get… Read More
Charlie Gracey is one of Canada’s more renowned experts on the beef industry in Canada. Charlie very much understands the relationship of the rancher, feeder and packer. At the Tiffin Conference in Lethbridge, Charlie discussed at length the things that the Canadian industry must do to increase markets and increase supply concurrently. Charlie believes that… Read More
Machinery is the major draw at most farm shows. Everyone loves to see the newest and the best from every company on the trade show floor. This year at Cropweek 2012’s Crop Production Week portion of the show, we saw just that. At this years show we saw everything from the worlds largest grain cart… Read More
Farmers in Western Canada will be going through a big change come August. The end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk will open up a whole new landscape to producers. It’s a landscape that some farmers are unsure about and other farmers are excited for. For those who land on the unsure side of… Read More
Christie Young is the Executive Director of FarmSmart and this week she has created some stir within the Canadian Agriculture industry by saying that our industry is not prepared for the coming mass farmer retirements. What has really caused the stir is her statement that the government has some sort of responsibility to ensure we prepare… Read More
Canola overall had a great year in 2011. Prices climbed to strong highs, demand was steady and acres were up in Western Canada. So where do we go from here? Does the price of canola continue to climb? Does profitability put us in a position where we are over stocked? Do other oils start to push… Read More