Western Canadian crop growers will soon have a new ally in the battle against weeds with the launch of WEEDit optical spot spray technology at the Farm Progress Show in Regina, Saskatchewan, June 19-21. WEEDit uses advanced sensors to detect chlorophyll in the leaves of weeds in fallow fields, triggering a targeted herbicide application. The… Read More
Year: 2019
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this week that the federal government is working towards reducing plastic waste, supporting innovation, and promoting alternatives to single-use plastics. “We have a responsibility to work with our partners to reduce plastic pollution, protect the environment, and create jobs and grow our economy,” says Prime Minister Trudeau. “We owe it… Read More
Today, on this Agronomic Monday: Flea beetles – Hector Carcamo, research entomologist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, joins RealAgriculture field editor Kara Oosterhuis to discuss flea beetles on the prairies, neonicotinoids, and foliar insecticides. Everything agronomy – FCL’s Jack Payne and resident agronomist Peter Johnson talk about too much to summarize, including: the variability in… Read More
Public speaking. For you 4-H-ers out there, you’ve probably competed in an agricultural-based public speaking competition before, whether it was to your excitement, or you were doing it because it was mandatory in your district. Growing up outside of the 4-H sphere, and not living in a big centre, these were skills I didn’t really… Read More
Ontario’s corn crop — such that it is — is pretty much planted, as most growers are now turning their focus to soybeans. Across the province during the past month, corn was planted into a range of wet, miserable conditions. The question now is how will the seedlings handle the tough going and what can… Read More
Grain Farmers of Ontario is asking federal political parties to consider both domestic and international market challenges ahead of the expected fall election. Grain Farmers of Ontario represents 28,000 barley, corn, oat, soybean, and wheat farmers. Grain farming in Ontario accounts for approximately 40,000 jobs in the province and contributes at least $9 billion in… Read More
Seeing dimpling on your canola leaves? Stem feeding? Chances are, it’s flea beetles causing the damage. This year in the southern prairies, flea beetles are becoming a significant issue, most likely in part due to dry conditions. And with neonicotinoids continuing to hit headlines, flea beetle control could become even more difficult in the coming… Read More
The lack of rainfall in some of the major pasture growing areas in Western Canada is extremely taxing on cow-calf producers. According to Chad MacPherson, general manager of the Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association, Saskatchewan is going into its third year of a major drought, and producers are running out of options. While in some years… Read More
The first full week of trading in June was highly volatile for the grain markets, as the complex whipsawed around on continued planting concerns (namely Prevent Plant corn acres), weather forecasts, and fresh trade issues. Simply put, there are a lot of factors impacting the market and that’s why we saw some wild intraday swings… Read More
In April, the Saskatchewan RCMP expanded its Crime Watch Advisory Network from the southern part of the province to all of Saskatchewan, and it appears to be paying off. Mounties report 10,341 people have signed up for the free service as of Thursday, June 6. “The success stories from across the province show that we… Read More
Happy Friday! Today on the show you’ll hear: Top ag news with RealAgriculture’s Jessika Guse. We want to hear from you: should Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reach out to Chinese President Xi Jinping for a meeting at the upcoming G-20 in Japan? Perceptions of agriculture could shape election issues this fall – RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin… Read More
The 2019 Ontario wheat crop can best be described as a dog’s breakfast…and that’s perhaps being kind. What’s left in the fields varies from not bad, to not too bad but with dead patches, to relatively uniformly poor and stagey. Depending on the field, the challenges are different. Uniform fields are easy to manage when… Read More
For a large part of the corn growing area of Ontario the deadline to plant corn is fast approaching, however Agricorp — the crop insurance vehicle in the province — has announced several extensions and exceptions for the 2019 cropping year. Depending on the area, farmers may have up to June 17 to plant corn… Read More
On the farm, the variety of pick up trucks is pretty narrow as most farmers are very loyal to the American automakers. Chevrolet, Dodge, or Ford can be found on most farms — is there room for a new entrant? Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, is promoting the idea of a Tesla pick up… Read More
U.S.-based Fair Oaks Farms dairy is under fire this week after an animal rights group circulated a video showing abuse of dairy calves at the dairy. Fair Oaks is a supplier of Coca-Cola’s Fairlife milk brand. Owner Dr. Mike McCloskey posted a video statement on the company’s web page. In it, McCloskey apologizes for the… Read More