By Megan Oleksyn Recently I attended the Western Stock Growers€™ Association€™s (WSGA) summer meeting, this year held in Donalda, AB. Why Donalda, you ask? I asked the same question after I got out my google map and found out just where Donalda was. The answer to €˜why Donalda?€™ really intrigued me. In this small Alberta… Read More
There is a lot of interest this year in winter wheat in Western Canada. Much of this interest stems from the very wet spring that we had this year in the west and the tremendous yields it looks like we will have. Many farmers have either emailed me or called wondering why is everyone so… Read More
One of the oldest traditions in the summer time is for farmers to attend local field days that are hosted by ag-input retailers or government researchers. Depending on where you are in the country you have probably attended many different ones at times for a number of reasons. Many people attend to see the… Read More
Many people look at services like Google from just the front end which is search. Google is really more about the back end application of data. The search engine allows them to collect infinite bytes of data so that they can make advertising revenue from the searcher. The better the data set that Google has… Read More
Many of you have heard the industry talk about the need to develop research initiatives. Without research there is no innovation and Canadian agriculture will begin to lose ground to its international competitors. Across the country provincial and federal government agricultural funding is getting cut which is threatening our ability to compete in the long… Read More
Fusarium continues to be a major concern for farmers as harvest begins in the US and parts of Ontario. Many farmers routinely apply a fungicide to their cereal crops to try and minimize the impact of fusarium. Its getting closer to the fungicide window for Western Canadian farmers and they need to really be considering… Read More
Earlier this week I published an interview with David Sippell the President of CSTA regarding Bill C-474. Some people emailed me with positive and negative responses to the bill. I decided to find out more by interviewing the man that has initiated this private members bill. This also answers criticism from some of you that… Read More
At the ISF 2010 World Seed Congress last week I had the chance to talk to Dave Sippell, President of the Canadian Seed Trade Association about the potential impacts of Bill C-474. Dr. Sippell discusses the Canadian Seed Trade’s position and why they think this bill would be putting the future of Canadian seed innovation… Read More
As you all know the debate around food safety continues to rage on. As we have discussed on this site before, the debate many times comes down to the discussion around combating the theory by many consumers that organic food is more healthy and better for the environment. What we see on tv is people… Read More
Have you heard of CIGI? Do you know what CIGI does? Does the Canadian International Grain Institute make a difference for Canadian farmers and industry? You bet!!! I recently stopped at CIGI’s office in Winnipeg and had a great time learning about what CIGI is and what they do. I had what I thought was… Read More
Have you ever wondered if the weeds in the field have a greater impact than just taking up nutrients. Is it possible that the weeds in the field have a greater impact on yield than we first thought? Dr. Clarence Swanton, Professor at the University of Guelph has been researching how corn plants and weeds… Read More
The most attractive and popular booth this year at the London Farm Show was the Syngenta Crop Protection booth. With a booth full of live corn plants under heat lamps, many farmers were drawn to the bright green plants. Nothing gets farmers motivated and excited more than than the opportunity to see a live plant… Read More
Sean Gardner may have the future of the wheat industry in his hands. As the Monsanto Global Wheat Lead, Sean is charged with the task of leveraging Monsanto’s current breeding technologies to bring biotech wheat to the market and to develop a value capture model for wheat. It is no secret that the wheat game… Read More
What does it mean to farm? Why do it? For many, it is a question of passion. Passion for the lifestyle €“ the satisfaction of working the land; the freedom to be your own boss in a world that€™s not constricted by office walls and collared shirts; the day-to-day enjoyment of hard work and fresh… Read More
Emotion is a powerful thing. Many people make decisions based on emotion and not science. There is some irony in all of this based on our scientific knowledge has never been higher. We know more about the genome of plants than ever before in our history. Yet at the same time emotions are high and… Read More