In August, I was able to spend a morning with Steve Twynstra, Twilight Acre Farms. Steve runs a diversified farm in the London area and wheat is a major part of his rotation. Steve strongly believes that wheat is not just a rotation filler but a cash crop for his farm. For Steve, wheat has… Read More
Category: Eastern Canada
Soybean yields in 2010 in Ontario have been outstandings. I have talked to a handful of farmers who have told me that this is the best crop they have ever had on the their farm. With the warm temperatures and timely moisture , the majority of the province has seen the massive benefits right before… Read More
Whether you have a dairy or a beef operation you have probably had to make the decision between a paddle mixer or auger feed box. Whether you own a Harsh, RotoMix or a Keenan you need to weight the benefits and disadvantages of each. What I tend to find in discussing this issue with many… Read More
As we discussed with Dana Omland from Palmerston Grain last week, the USDA report shocked the market. With corn yields being revised lower in the US, many producers are wondering what is the deal with the next year of commodity prices. Will we see a repeat of 2007 or a quick trade and then the… Read More
The market just continues to get tossed around based on acreage, yield and carry out numbers from Stats Can and the USDA. Today it was the USDA’s turn as they broke the news that they have revised their corn yield estimates down to 155 bu per acre from 160 bu per acre. It has been… Read More
In recent years more and more farmers are looking at the growing season from a systems approach. In the past farmers and and suppliers for the most part considered most inputs independent of one another, working on their own piece of responsibility in the growing cycle. Many researchers, input suppliers and farmers are trying to… Read More
By Shaun Haney Agriculture has some untouchable topics that we are just not supposed to talk about. One of them is dealing with aging farm workers. On the farm we are taught to respect our elders but in some cases in agriculture we take this to high levels of absurdity. Recently, in northern Alberta… Read More
Animal activists often criticize that animal agriculture does not care for its livestock in a humane manner. Those of us in the industry realize that this is a ridiculous notion. At a dairy, animal care is ever more important due to the rule of “a happy cow produces more milk.” In the category of providing… Read More
Recently I travelled to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit the global headquarters of Dow Agro Sciences. I had the opportunity along with several other people from the Canadian ag media to entrench ourselves in the company’s strategy and objectives to better understand the company. Much of the presentation had to do with with the opportunities for… Read More
One of my favourite things to do at a farm show is check out some of the cool new inventions that people have come up with. Most of the time the inventions really have limited scope and will provide little value to the greater farming community except for a few neighbours. But once in awhile… Read More
In the consumer electronics industry there is a lot of focus on design. The same holds true with the car industry. what is that next great design that is going to rock the world of the car business? In the world of crop protection business in Canada there has not been a lot of change… Read More
Many times when we compare agriculture in Canada versus the United States we tend to focus on the differences. When in reality there are more similarities between the two countries. This week I went to Indianapolis with Dow Agro Sciences to learn about the things that the company is working on. Before we went to… Read More
With the Blackberry Torch coming out in Canada very soon many smartphone using farmers are wondering they should be making the leap dater some of the struggles of the Storm and Storm 2. Even though touch screens are all the rage (think iphone) many people still like the idea of the actual keyboard. The concept… Read More
I have always found that many farmers do not fully understand how some of the products that they use are effective. I definitely have some products that I think I understand but am probably making some assumptions. This has become an even bigger issue with the pace that technology is being brought to the… Read More
Recently a study found that 40% of corn farmers were not following the refuge requirements of Bt trait corn. Stewardship guidelines are in place for a reason yet farmers are not playing along the way they should be. Many farmers complain of yield drag and not wanting to comprise yield at all by planting a… Read More