How many coffee shops in Western Canada are talking about the fall weather. Will we get an early frost? Does late spring mean early fall? Can September be the hottest month of the year again? Weather is always something that occupies a farmers mind because the timing is so critical. For example, if we have… Read More
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
Recently the Canola Council of Canada hosted a combine clinic to help growers optimize the settings of their machines. Throw-over loss seems to be more of a serious issue than many growers want to discuss or admit. In this weeks episode of the Canola School we put together a single video getting commentary from four… Read More
When planning for the upcoming planting in the fall, farmers need to look back and see what went good and what were the areas where they could of improved. In looking back on the Ontario 2010 wheat crop there were several things that a you could take and implement for the 2011 season. In this… Read More
Peter Johnson, Cereal Specialist with OMAFRA thinks that farmers in Ontario that are not seeding wheat need to give their heads a shake. Having wheat in your rotation has major benefits in terms of agronomics and profitability. According to Peter, wheat is the crop providing the biggest addition to the bottom line on the farm this fall…. Read More
By Shaun Haney On Tuesday night I was following my usually routine of watching the National on CBC before I go to sleep for the night. One of the leading stories was about the Ontario government starting an online casino to compete in this massive market against the likes of Poker Stars and Bodog. This… Read More
When selling your crop more buyers bidding is always better. Adding another high capacity crushing plant to the mix is a great step to one allow for a further expansion of acres and more competition for farmers canola crops. In this episode of the canola school, LDM Foods President, Brian Conn talks about the new… Read More
Just when you think the wheat market is stable and that the supply and demand equation is fully priced in the market……BOOM!!!!!! Russia and some neighbouring countries decide to have a drought and WALLA!!!……The market have decided to go 2007 on us again. Who can stomach this volatility and craziness? Is this real or just… Read More
By Shaun Haney I spent the day in the Winnipeg area today and it is quite clear that Manitoba is closer to Ontario in the crop cycle than it’s western province neighbours. In my opinion the crops that I saw are a good two and maybe three weeks ahead of Alberta. I saw many canola… 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
The lygus bug is a pest that continues to be a problem for farmers in the west. The need to scout the bug is from bolting on through the crop cycle. The lygus bug can cause significant yield loss and damage to the canola plant. In the early flowering period it can be easy to… Read More
Variety selection can be just as much about the milling quality as it is the agronomic traits. Before and after a variety is registered, companies like the Canadian International Grains Institute (CIGI) work to try and develop markets based on the qualities of the product. One of the qualities of the grain is its dough… Read More
I have been thumbing through the Ontario Farmer lately and it continues to strike me that there seems to be a lack of contentious issue in Ontario this year. Are the crops to good? Is the newly created GFO doing the perfect job? Are farmers making so much money they cannot stand the pains of… Read More
The wheat harvest in Ontario is underway and off to the start that everyone was hoping for. The wheat crop in Ontario has really faced the perfect spring and summer. In this episode of the Wheat School, Peter Johnson, Cereal Specialist, OMAFRA gives us an Ontario wheat harvest update. Peter updates us on yields, disease… Read More
In the Canadian Wheat Board’s effort to provide more options to the Western Canadian farmer the FlexPro contract is back again. The deadline for signing up for the program is the end of the month. I talked to Jonathan Driedger, FarmLink Marketing Solutions on the advantages and disadvantages of the program and whether or not… Read More