Germination tests are standard when it comes to any seed lot. A lot of seed for sale has to tested for germination so that the farmer or seed company can decide whether the seed lot will be suitable for sale. Farmers that are saving seed also need to make sure that their saved seed will… Read More
The global economic instability of the last year has no doubt rattled investors and left them looking for any kind of a stable place to invest. One of those places has been agriculture. The growing population and the need to feed them has raised the value of the agricultural industry as a whole. The bottom… Read More
With precision agriculture becoming more mainstream, its apparent that farmers are looking to every means possible to increase production and gain an edge. Micro-Nutrients may be one of those missing pieces of the puzzle when it comes to gaining that edge. Micro-Nutrient companies are on the rise in the U.S. and are starting to show… Read More
Another year gone and another harvest in the books for farmers in the West. This year had its share of difficulties, with wet conditions delaying and in some cases completely destroying efforts to get a crop in in some areas. For those farmers that did get a crop in, the threat of disease loomed heavy… Read More
The bottom line is that farmers want to see their yields increase, and that’s what we’re providing.” Becker Underwood’s Director of Marketing Ralph DeVries. With the release of the new Nodulator XL inoculant for peas and lentils, DeVries says that they’ve improved upon a number of things, most importantly, a more active strain of rhizobium… Read More
This spring, farmers in hard hit areas had to narrow their focus when it came to getting a crop in. Traditional, high value crops like wheat and canola got pushed to the front of the line when seeding decisions were made. That decision left a lot of the special crops seeded late or left unseeded… Read More
Last week RealAgriculture.com took a went on a bit of a road trip. We were happy to be part of the Western Farm Progress Show in Regina, Saskatchewan. During that time we got to see a lot of cool new products and talk to a lot of interesting people. One of our favourite things to… Read More
The flax industry in Canada is still in recovery trying to manage the triffid flax discovery of 2009. Triffid, a genetically modified form of flax, was ordered destroyed over 10 years ago over concerns that the European Union would reject it. Those fears over rejection were enough reason for farmers, considering that the EU buys… Read More
In the last few years, lentil acres in Canada were on the rise. Farmers across the country planted just over 2.5 million acres of the crop last year. That being said, the expectation this year is that lentil acres will be down about 25% according to some analysts. Apparently, as good as the price for… Read More
With the significant moisture that we are going to carry over into 2011 many farmers are very concerned about disease in their special crops. Specifically lentil disease were the concern at CropWeek 2011 in Saskatoon. Lentils can be a very high reward crop but managing in crop disease is definitely critical in order to get… Read More
Its not only a struggle to decide what to grow but also how to price the crop in this volatile pricing market. With special crops price discovery is an even bigger challenge fro many producers. With the poor growing conditions last year, lentil growers that got the crop off in a timely fashion and got… Read More
When farmers choose varieties one of the most common used criteria is stand ability. Sometimes crops lodge no matte what variety you choose due to late moisture, wind or above average weight of the crop. One of the tools that farmers are including on their combine headers is Flexxifinger crop lifters. At CropWeek 2011 in… Read More
The Triffid flax export issue with Europe was a major story of 2010. All stakeholders in the flax value chain were impacted with great severity. Farmers couldn’t move inventory, prices plummeted, and exporters had cargo in limbo. The finger pointing was intense as everyone searched for the reasons that the previously approved trait had worked… Read More
There are lot of choices for farmers this year which is creating a significant battle for acres, even amongst the special crop acres. Yellow and green peas are not one of the true sexy selections in comparison to canola but are still an option for farmers looking to diversify the rotation. With all the focus… Read More
With the pricing advantages for canola and lentils right now in the prairies, many growers are moving to tighter and tighter crop rotations. These tighter rotations include lentils more often and the exclusion of cereals in a canola lentil rotation. This is similar to the exclusion of wheat in corn soybean rotations in Ontario…. Read More