Getting your corn crop off to a good start sets the tone for yield potential down the line. In our last episode, we talked about getting your seed down in the right conditions. This episode we’ll look at providing your crop with the right elements to get it firmly established in the field. When you’re… Read More
Month: April 2013
The start of planting in 2013 has been very slow due to cool and, in some cases, wet inclement weather. Nothing tells a story like pictures, so here is a selection of some of the pictures from the past week in #plant13 (from Twitter) from across the United States. See this weeks Canadian pictures of… Read More
Over 50 farmers gathered near a river diversion yesterday intending to send a message to the Manitoba government. The group of farmers, who farm near Lake Manitoba, were protesting a lack of fair compensation for forced flooding that occurred in 2011. A small group of farmers parked large equipment on the low side of the… Read More
As a farm writer, it’s my job to track down the expert on a long list of topics and interview them. These interviews are sometimes very routine — researchers are most certainly always knowledgeable, but not all of them effectively share the heart and soul of their work. That’s perhaps a bit harsh, but it’s… Read More
Last week it was reported that family-owned MacDon Industries Ltd is being put up for auction. As one the world’s largest manufacturer of windrowers, Reuters reported that the price tag could be for over one billion dollars. At this point no reasons for the sale have been released but rumors of the potential interested buyers is purely… Read More
It’s the last day of April, and precious few farmers have turned a wheel in Western Canada. It’s currently cool and wet in Manitoba with snow in the western part of the province. Parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan had snow just yesterday (and still more have woken up to a winter wonderland). While some in… Read More
In 1998, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association brought forward a petition to Health Canada to amend regulations so that irradiation of ground beef could be used in Canada. The scientific review proving the safety and efficacy of the bacteria-killing process was completed by Health Canada. The petition moved to step one of a two step process… Read More
It’s already cost the Canadian hog industry a billion dollars, but Country of Origin Labeling, or COOL, is not done with hurting the hog industry just yet. At least that seems to be the conclusion drawn from the USDA’s proposed “amendments” to the requirement to meet the WTO’s 2011 ruling. As RealAgriculture.com has reported before,… Read More
Canola volunteers can be tricky to control in the most “average” of years. But we all remember last year when 100km/h winds came and blew around canola, leaving bushels laying in fields, ready to germinate this spring. But just how much canola is in one of your fields? Here is some math to get an… Read More
Recently I have seen several different press releases on competitive companies deciding to share corn traits. Most farmers look at these kinds of announcements and just flip the page to the next article without a second look. Really you should take that second look and think about the impact on your farm in the future…. Read More
Remember this feeling, it happens every year. It’s that edgy, ready-to-go feeling that shows up every year around early April. The later it gets, the more the feeling gets amplified. Then you read stories (sorry) about the guy down the road that hit the perfect window in early April and absolutely nailed it at harvest…. Read More
There are some big shifts in technology that happen that force you to move into the future. Look at television. The shift to digital forced a lot of old stalwarts to take a drive into town and look at some options or risk missing Hockey Night in Canada. Being content with rabbit ears was no… Read More
Louis Dreyfus Canada now owns 100% of its 2,500-tonne per day Yorkton, Sask., canola crush plant. The company has bought out the minority interest from Mitsui & Co. According to a press release sent today, “Louis Dreyfus Canada and Mitsui determined, after a review of the Yorkton investment, that this transaction best served the interests… Read More
What’s your technology mix? Phone and a laptop, phone, tablet and a laptop, or desktop, phone and a tablet? Or something else entirely? It’s an expensive trial, this getting the right mix of useful gadgets, so certified AgNerds Shaun Haney and Peter Gredig decided to tackle the question. Inspired by Shaun’s adoption of the lamely-named… Read More
There are few things more frustrating than not being able to pin down what’s eating your canola. Knowing which pests feed when and their tell-tale damage cues is the first step in narrowing down the perpetrator list. Cutworms, a general category that includes several pest species, feed in the early season (late May to June)… Read More