A U.S. government agency has identified what it believes is the most likely way the devastating PED virus entered the country and infected millions of pigs. The findings are both surprising and a reminder that biosecurity plans must be thorough. The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service considered 17 plausible scenarios that could explain how PED and similar… Read More
Author: Kelvin Heppner
Kelvin Heppner, field editor for RealAgriculture, has been reporting on Canadian agriculture since 2008(ish). When he's not working on a story, he's usually in a chicken barn or a field, as he also farms with his family near Altona, Manitoba.
Statistics Canada has raised its production estimates for wheat and canola, but there’s a good chance the final numbers after harvest will be higher, according to the head of ProFarmer Canada. The September StatsCan estimates, based on a survey of 9,300 farms conducted between September 3 and 13, were released on Friday morning. The all-wheat estimate of… Read More
It’s estimated as many as 5,000 people transition out of the Canadian Forces each year. Most of them are between the ages of 28 and 35, and they’re looking for a meaningful career as they enter civilian life. At the same time, finding skilled employees is consistently one of the top challenges across Canadian agriculture — from the… Read More
Farm & Food Care Canada will have its first CEO as of January 2016. Crystal Mackay will transition from her role as executive director of Farm & Food Care Ontario to fill the new national position. “Crystal has provided strong leadership and made significant contributions to both development and continued growth of Farm & Food Care Ontario… Read More
The developing El Nino weather system that’s been nicknamed “Bruce Lee” for its strength and “Godzilla” for the destruction it could cause has become the biggest weather story in North America. The U.S. National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration has said it could be the strongest El Nino since NOAA started tracking the Pacific weather phenomenon in the 1950s… Read More
Corn and soybean futures have trended lower since mid-summer, but with harvest in the early stages, at least one analyst thinks the lows might be in for corn while soybean values have further to fall. Bryan Doherty, senior market advisor with Wisconsin-based Stewart-Peterson, shared his market outlook at Big Iron in Fargo, North Dakota on… Read More
Statistics Canada released its first crop production estimates using a new model-based methodology on Thursday. The model takes into account satellite data, as well as historical figures from the traditional StatsCan Field Crop Reporting Series and agroclimatic information. What wasn’t required in compiling the numbers was a survey of farmers. “The traditional survey relies completely on interviewing… Read More
The Alberta Wheat Commission has launched the first phase of its crop price reporting website aimed at helping farmers make more-informed marketing decisions. As of September 8th, the website — known as PDQ, short for “Price and Data Quotes” — is providing daily regional spot and forward bid prices for red spring wheat, prairie spring… Read More
The closure of two packing plants in Ontario last year has forced producers to look for hook space at processors outside the province. The uncertainty in demand is hurting confidence in the industry, suggests Guelph-based livestock and meat market analyst Kevin Grier. At the start of 2014, Ontario’s federally-inspected slaughter capacity stood at around 95,000 head… Read More
There will be less wheat and slightly less canola grown in Canada this year than what analysts were expecting, if the first production estimates from Statistics Canada are to be believed. Prior to the report’s release on Friday morning, trade guesses for total wheat production ranged from 24.8 to 27.1 million metric tonnes. StatsCan pegged all-wheat at 24.6MMT, down 15.9 percent from last year…. Read More
Now that we’re several weeks into the federal election campaign, it’s clear the words “agriculture” and “farming” have been left out of the main messages repeated by most candidates. It’s disappointing, but given the precedent set in politics over the last few decades, it’s not at all surprising. Rather than preaching to the choir at the coffee shop… Read More
Tile drainage in North America has traditionally been installed with a single-leg plow that rips a vertical groove in the soil as it lays the pipe in the ground. Depending on soil type and moisture conditions, the single-shank will disturb the soil and leave a rut or soft spot that can take years to settle. A water management company… Read More
A ranching family from southern British Columbia has been chosen as the 2015 recipient of the “The Environmental Stewardship Award” from the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. Darrell and Doris Squair, along with their son Travis and daughter-in-law Katie, operate Squaw Valley Ranch near Lumby. They received the TESA recognition at the CCA’s Semi-Annual Meeting in Winnipeg on Wednesday…. Read More
The USDA took grain markets by surprise with the numbers in its August supply/demand report on Wednesday morning. Corn, soybeans and canola futures dropped sharply following the much larger than expected production and ending stock estimates. Soybean ending stocks for 2015-16 were pegged at 470 million bushels — up from the USDA’s estimate of 425 million, and significantly higher than… Read More
There’s been renewed interest in using producer cars to ship grain to customers in recent years, in part due to the backlog in the Western Canadian grain handling system following the bumper crop in 2013, as well as the entrance of new grain buyers after the end of the Canadian Wheat Board’s monopoly in 2012. As… Read More