31-33% moisture: that’s when corn reaches physiological maturity, or black layering, according to Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). But, harvesting corn above 28% can result in damage to the grain, difficult marketing and the burdens of attempting to dry in storage. This late in the season, stalk quality may make the… Read More
Category: audio
Time-permitting, we love finding unsuspecting (or surprisingly agreeable) individuals for a segment we refer to as Talking to Farmers. The clips are often filmed at trade shows and conferences, and the interviewees are never given more than a hint at the questions they’ll be asked. This year, at the Agri-Trade Expo in Red Deer, we cajoled four people into… Read More
John Deere has expanded its range of high horsepower tractors, with the recent introduction of the 9R/9RT 4WD Series. The Series includes the 9420R, 9470R, 9520R, 9570R, 9620R and 9470RT, 9520RT and 9570RT, ranging — as the names suggest — from 420 to 620 horsepower. Designed for large arable farms with hillside terrain and tough field conditions, the… Read More
If you happen to pass the TRCW-24, you’ll need a second glance — it’s huge. A standard disc blade is an overwhelming 36? in diameter, and somehow, there’s an even bigger option: the 1,100 lb, 42? disc. The implement is designed for deep plowing, mixing, aerating and plowing through heavy trash. Indeed, the machine can plow through tree stumps, small trees and… Read More
Successful winter wheat crops depend on the process of vernalization in order to spur the wheat to shift from vegetative to reproductive growth. The process is initiated by the presence of cold temperatures and, surprising to many, is not dependent on seedling growth. “Wheat’s a pretty interesting crop,” says Peter Johnson, cereal specialist for the… Read More
The idea that municipal, provincial and national boundaries should be ignored when managing water is gaining momentum in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northern North Dakota. Around 150 delegates representing farm groups, landowners, conservation organizations, scientists and governments met in Regina last week to discuss plans for the Assiniboine River Basin Initiative. “This type of approach, a basin-wide approach… Read More
The 2014-15 NHL season is into its second month, with Tampa Bay leading the Eastern Conference standings and Anaheim leading the West. Offensive leaders Sydney Crosby and Tyler Seguin (for goals and points, respectively) are sitting pretty, while Jake Allen and Craig Anderson are stopping pucks left, right and centre, making them current goalie leaders (in goals… Read More
Well, it seems winter weather has arrived across much of Canada. If you’ve been busy clearing snow, or trying to get a few more things done before the snow flies in your area, why not catch up on what you’ve missed in farm news over the last while? As part of this week’s podcast, Kelvin… Read More
Degelman’s Pro-Till 33 and Pro-Till 40 are certainly heavy-weight competitors, weighing in at over 32 000 lbs, and carrying it all in their frames. And somehow, with all that weight, they still compete at high speeds, levelling ruts, shredding heavy fall residue and breaking up clods at over 10 miles per hour. The units… Read More
The federal and Manitoba governments are offering AgriRecovery funding to help flooded livestock producers cover feed and transportation costs. The Manitoba government estimates 75,000 acres of hayland belonging to approximately 330 farms around Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipegosis were flooded in May and June. Earlier today, Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and… Read More
On November 5, at Agri-Trade Expo, BASF announced the release of Compass Grower, a new web-based farm management tool. The tool was developed by Affinitiy Management Ltd., a partner of Microsoft, and is intended to fully integrate all aspects of farming in their accounting platform, which combines crop, financial and grain marketing management data. With… Read More
Shipping your own railcar can have numerous benefits, not the least of which is selling grain at a higher price than local elevators are willing to offer. At the same time there’s also a fair amount of risk in counting on producer cars to market grain — just ask one of the farmers who are… Read More
Corn and wheat futures moved higher, while soybean values dropped following the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s November crop production and supply/demand estimates on Monday morning. The numbers were not as bearish as many traders and analysts were expecting, says Mike Krueger, president of The Money Farm, in the interview above. “People thought… Read More
Honey Bee’s new AirFlex draper header created quite the buzz at Agri-Trade ’14 last week. The header can be used in flex or rigid mode, with the transition between them requiring the push of a button and only a few minutes worth of patience. In flex mode, the cutterbar shaves the ground with 9″ worth of flex,… Read More
Want to know what buyers look for in a soybean sample? Or what you don’t want to see in your soybeans? This episode of the Soybean School takes us to the Canadian Grain Commission grading lab in Winnipeg. Thanks to Daryl Beswitherick, program manager for quality assurance and re-inspection at the CGC, for taking some time… Read More