Any way you look at it, 90 million dollars is a lot of money. That’s the amount the Western Grains Research Foundation has accrued over the years due to the railways exceeding their revenue cap. That’s sad news for farmers who paid much more than they should have for transport, but the good news is… Read More
Year: 2013
The Canadian Grain Commission recently released a summary of the feedback it received regarding impending changes to its user fee system. Industry stakeholders, including farmers, were asked to submit their questions, critiques and suggestions for changes to the not only the user fees, but also changes to the Canada Grains Act. Generally, there seems to… Read More
There are several ways to measure the costs and benefits of crop rotations. Weed population changes, soil organic matter building or depleting, yield bumps or total energy used are all different ways of gauging the relative advantages of different rotations. Dr. Perry Miller, professor at the University of Montana, has done extensive work into crop… Read More
The governments of Canada and Ontario are making a joint investment to help farmers adopt innovative and sustainable on-farm water management practices. That’s according to Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Ted McMeekin who jointly announced a new initiative that will focus on finding new technologies and solutions… Read More
In part 1 of our conversation with Dr. Hugh Earl of the University of Guelph he talked about the impact water stress can have on soybean yields. That study suggested that at some point during a number of growing seasons, even if rainfall was adequate, some yield was being lost to water stress. One of… Read More
RealAgriculture.com’s Bern Tobin sat down yesterday with FCC’s chief agricultural economist Jean-Philippe Gervais to dig deep into what’s behind the recent run up in Ontario land values and where prices are headed. In this video fresh from yesterday’s full conference day at the Southwest Agricultural Conference being held at Ridgetown, Ont., Gervais answers some heady… Read More
It can seem like an efficient way to solve two problems at once — add an insecticide in with the fungicide on canola and, voila, all your pest troubles go away. But not so fast. While applying an insecticide when pest insect levels are at or above threshold may be the right move, adding an… Read More
If ever we needed a new curse word, let me humbly suggest kochia. If you thought it was tough to kill before, it’s quickly becoming even more difficult. As Clark Brenzil, provincial weed specialist with Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, explains, not only should kochia be taken off the label of every Group 2 herbicide, it’s… Read More
It sounds a little out there — plants talking to each other, warning them to arm themselves against predators and biotic stress, but it’s real. The research into plant communication is actually decades old, but for some time it was largely ignored by the research community. That is, until now. Rob Saik, president of the… Read More
There’s generally always enough moisture metered out through the growing season to finish the soybean crop, but soybeans can soak up a lot of water and translate that into yield if it’s there. But by how much? What are we really losing to drought stress? Dr. Hugh Earl of the University of Guelph and colleagues… Read More
Ever wonder what the Canola Council of Canada does and who is involved? RealAgriculture.com caught up with Patti Miller, president of the council, to ask her those questions and many more. For example, 2012 was in some ways a fantastic year for the crop — a huge number of acres went in and planned crush… Read More
New Year’s Eve held much excitement in U.S. politics, not because of any ball drop or extravagant party, but because of a late-night crunch session to hammer out a tax bill that would pull the U.S. from the so-called “Fiscal Cliff” of mandatory cost cutting and tax hikes. Included in the last-minute agreement was an… Read More
Proper tank clean-out is a key aspect of avoiding herbicide injury, but the waste water created from tank cleaning needs to be handled responsibly to avoid unwanted plant injury or water contamination. Using a biobed — essentially a clay-lined, dedicated area rich in microbes where tank water is emptied for further degradation by microbes —… Read More