I get asked all of the time whether a grower should do a preseed burn off and my answer is always, “when do you want to spend your money? Up front or at spraying time.” I do get a lot of weird looks when I say that reply but it is true. I have walked… Read More
Category: Crop Production
Yesterday the USDA planting intention report was released which has stirred lots of speculation about the future movement of of agricultural commodity price. On BNN yesterday Larry Weber of Weber Commodities spoke about the planting report and some of the ramifications. Larry speculates that Soybeans could be headed to 10-11 dollars per bushel this spring…. Read More
There has been a lot of confusion amongst some people regarding Monsanto‘s application for GM drought tolerant corn for feed and food use in Canada and the United States. The application has been made and could be ready if approved fro commercialization in 2012 or 2013. This gene will provide farmers with the ability to… Read More
In part 2 of my interview with Lloyd Dyck, CEO of Brett Young we discuss how the access to credit is a bigger concern than the commodity price volatility for people in agriculture. Lloyd also talks about the forage business at Brett Young, where forage genetics are coming from and how hybrid alfalfa is growing… Read More
This is part 1 of 2 of my interview with Lloyd Dyck, CEO of Brett Young. Brett Young is truly unique because it is family owned and provides a a very diversified product line to the marketplace. In this video Lloyd discusses how the future growth of the company is in biologicals like PodCeal and… Read More
There is much speculation around canola acres for 2009 in Western Canada. Farmers are hesitant to order canola seed, retailers are hesitant to speculate on inventory, distributors are cautious, and seed companies will not treat on speculation just to make sure seed is available for spring. What we have here is a system that is… Read More
This is part 3 of 4 of my interview with Syngenta Canada President, Jay Bradshaw.  In this segment Jay talks about how the variety registration system in Canada needs to be improved and how transgenic wheat will bring benefits to farmers and consumers.  Transgenic wheat is an issue that will have to eventually be dealt with.  Transgenic… Read More
Last week while I was in Edmonton I listened to Stan Blade, Executive Director of the Alberta Agricultural Research Institute (AARI), talk about where Alberta is focusing cereal research in the long term. Currently in Alberta the three biggest products in terms of value are beef (3.104 billion), canola (1.216 billion) and wheat ( 1.251… Read More
I just listened to Bill Lapp, an economist with Advanced Economic Solutions speak about the outlook for commodities in Edmonton. Lapp was very interesting, candid and provided great insight into the commodity market. The key points that Lapp focused on were: Brazil, Russia, India and China have led the world growth over the last 10… Read More
Yesterday, Rick Cassson, MP Lethbridge hosted Federal Agricultural Minister, Gerry Ritz in Lethbridge.  On top of serving at the Farm Credit Canada Breakfast at Ag Expo and meeting with a farmer round table, Ritz also announced 15.5 million in funding for the Canadian Triticale Biorefiniery Initiative. I participated in the farmer round table where all twenty of the… Read More
Last week there was a very unique joint venture formed that will provide additional genetics to the Western Canadian market place. Â Alliance Seed Corporation is a new seed company formed by Parrish & Heimbecker, Patterson Grain and several inland terminals in Saskatchewan. Â As Dale mentions in the video, the new company will be focusing in… Read More
After visiting different fields across Chile, I really came to appreciate the differences in irrigation methods.  On the larger fields, pivots are becoming more common but there is still many stationary guns and even flood irrigation.  Most irrigation water is transported by dirt ditch while cement ditch infrastructure is underway.  Chilean farmers are able to grow very… Read More
Like many industries based on plant science and biology, there is a lot of risk. This is definitely the case with the collapse of the Chilean salmon and winter canola industry. Due to lack of proper environmental practices and controls the salmon farms have been infected with a virus which is killing the salmon population…. Read More
I will be in Chile until February 14th. I am going to try and post to the blog as much as I can while I am here but I will probably be able to add the majority of the content after I get back. So far on my trip I have toured several canola fields… Read More
Last week at the Crop Production Show I sat down with David Asbridge, Client Development Manager / Senior Economist with Doane Advisory Services. Doane Advisory Services is the largest agricultural advisory company in the United States. Here is Part 1 and 2 of the interview that I participated in with David at Crop Week in… Read More