Editor’s note: This is Owen Roberts’ first Real Talk, Real Action column. Each week, Owen will offer his insight into how farmers and the agricultural industry can participate in the rural- and ag-related discussions going on around them. Contact Owen at [email protected] or on Twitter at @TheUrbanCowboy. Food Freedom Day in Canada arrives next week… Read More
Year: 2013
Farming would be much, much easier and far less risky if we could control the weather. We can’t, of course, so the first point of any “most limiting factor” list — the weather — is always moot. After that, though, there are several management factors well within farmers’ control that deserve some attention when gunning… Read More
There is a new craze in Saskatchewan and it is soybeans. I have been travelling all week with the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers and Kevin Elmy of Friendly Acre Seed Farms (Saltcoats, SK) has been wowing the crowd with indepth soybean agronomic information. Saskatchewan farmers want to grow soybeans and that has been very clear with… Read More
Premier-elect of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, has officially announced she’ll take on the ag portfolio in addition to her duties as premier when she is sworn in on February 11, 2013. As a very busy, multi-tasking woman myself, my hat goes off to her. From Twitter: @Kathleen_Wynne “Committed to serve as Minister of Agriculture, Food &… Read More
Once again Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz took to the stage at the FarmTech conference to talk to a packed house about the state of agriculture in Canada. This year saw the Minister announce details on two federal Growing Forward 2 programs as well as address a number of other topics including the lay of… Read More
There is nothing that draws a crowd quite like battleship-sized machinery. While most people come to gawk at the spectacle with no real practical use for it, keep in mind, manufacturer’s don’t make these things for their own entertainment. The Bourgault 7950 Air Seeder is a gargantuan machine, but for the producer with a lot… Read More
On Twitter yesterday Rick Taillieu, Alberta Canola, was having some fun at my expense (which at times is not really difficult). When you post a YouTube video, it grabs a screen shot to display at the front of the video before you press play. Some of the screen grabs are less than ideal in terms… Read More
Today is potentially a very big day for Western Canadian farmers and the petroleum industry. Ceres Global Ag Corp will be investing heavily in new rail infrastructure to connect Canadian farmers directly to the Texas Gulf and Mexico. A Canadian grain expert (who requested to be kept confidential) quickly told RealAgriculture.com that, “this would of never… Read More
Agri-Trend’s latest business offering is the Agri-Data Solution, a web-based application that stores all the farm data you may need. Once inputted, the Agri-Data interface can be accessed by several members of the farm team from any computer, tablet or smartphone by a user name and password. Shaun Haney caught up with Kevin Pattison of… Read More
Statistics Canada released its estimates for 2012 year-end crop stocks today. As of December 31, total stocks of most principal field crops were down compared with the same date in 2011. Corn is the big exception — record yields in 2012 have boosted on-farm stocks. Canola stocks are estimated at 7.4 million tonnes, a 23.6% drop from December 31, 2011. It… Read More
RealAgriculture.com is pleased to announce journalist and journalism instructor Owen Roberts of the University of Guelph begins a new weekly column this week, entitled “Real Talk, Real Action.” Each Thursday, Owen’s column will feature a new call to action for the agriculture community, related to a current agriculture event or news story. This new feature… Read More
Weed resistance has been a hot topic in Canada for the past number of years, with glyphosate resistance moving front and centre in the last year or two. In case you hadn’t heard, glyphosate-resistant kochia was confirmed in Alberta in early 2012 and, as of 2013, it’s been confirmed in south and west central Saskatchewan… Read More
CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) today announced it will transition open outcry trading of Kansas City Board of Trade (KCBT) hard red winter (HRW) wheat futures and options to its Chicago trading floor beginning Monday, July 1, 2013, pending CFTC review. The company’s release says this transition will accelerate efficiencies and trading opportunities for customers trading both… Read More
What are the key steps that farm families need to consider when developing a farm succession plan? It’s a looming question for many farm families right now. To help in the process, the Agricultural Management Institute (AMI) has produced a new farm succession video series, viewed from the kitchen tables of Ontario farm families as… Read More
Peter Johnson, wheat specialist with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, made quite the splash at Farm Tech last week. A regular in RealAgricutlure.com’s Wheat School, @WheatPete (as he’s known on Twitter) has very set views on maximizing wheat production, and he’s not afraid to tell a farmer, point blank, what that farmer… Read More