The inaugural Canadian Beef Industry Conference is underway in Calgary, Alberta this week, and this morning, RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney and Gateway Livestock’s Anne Wasko took the opportunity to film a Beef Market Update in-person, in our studio on the trade-show floor. The duo started off talking about some of the good news in the industry, how we’re… Read More
Category: Podcasts
The complete picture will be painted over the next few weeks, but buyers are bracing themselves for variable quality in this year’s wheat crop in Western Canada. “The big challenge is the ongoing rainfall events,” notes Neil Townsend, market analyst with FarmLink Marketing Solutions, in the interview below. “Other quality factors, not just protein, but… Read More
How much corn yield could Ontario’s hot, dry summer cost growers? In this episode of the Corn School, Ridgetown College, University of Guelph field crop agronomist Dave Hooker explains that drought stress can have a tremendous impact on yield, especially during the two-week period that “brackets” silking. Hooker says that the number of rows on a… Read More
Maintaining public trust in the way food is produced has become a top priority, not just for farmers, but for the entire agriculture sector, including the seed industry. “Right through the whole value chain, we have to get involved. We’re a small sector in Canada now…and to have our voice heard against the activists who… Read More
Winter wheat acres in Western Canada have fallen by half over the last five years. According to Statistics Canada, just over 1.3 million acres of winter wheat were seeded in the fall of 2011, while only 635 thousand acres were planted in the fall of 2015 (see the chart below). Canola harvest timing and weather conditions… Read More
It’s hard to imagine a time before, at least, threshing machines. But the evolution of wheat is long, and complex. “Not many people know about the origin of wheat,” says Mazen Aljarrah, plant breeder at the Field Crop Development Centre in Lacombe, in the following video. “Actually, it started maybe 10,000 years ago through a spontaneous… Read More
Have you tested your fields for soybean cyst nematode (SCN) lately? If not, it may be time to put a shovel in the ground and do a soil analysis. In this episode of the Soybean School, Huron Commodities agronomist Wayne Wheeler provides tips on how to quickly assess whether or not the tiny root pest… Read More
If tansy ragwort is gaining a foothold in your pasture fields, it’s time to take action. The poisonous yellow-flowered plant has taken root in pastures and hayfields across North America and its liver-damaging alkaloids can kill livestock, explains Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs weed specialist Mike Cowbrough. In this video, Cowbrough offers tips… Read More
The Field Crop Development Centre (FCDC) and Lacombe Research and Development Centre hosted Lacombe Field Day on July 27 to showcase some of the work happening in central Alberta. And, for Flavio Capettini, head of research at FCDC, some of this year’s excitement centres around a recently released barley variety. “We just released TR13609 — it’s a… Read More
The Manitoba Agricultural Museum and Canadian Foodgrains Bank teamed up with over 600 volunteers from 100 Canadian communities to attempt a record-breaking harvest this week, at Harvesting Hope: A World Record to Help the Hungry. Over two years of planning culminated into 139 (of 148) threshing machines harvesting wheat for 15 minutes at the Museum… Read More
There are still many areas in Ontario that are dealing with drought and high temperatures during grain-fill. Peter Johnson, resident agronomist at RealAgriculture, and host of the Word talks about some of the options for managing through a drought, with a particular focus on harvesting corn silage early. Johnson also covers insects to scout for, corn… Read More
Parsnip is great in soups or part of a roasted vegetable medley, but if you see it growing in a ditch it’s best to steer clear. Those volunteer plants are likely wild parsnip and they’re poisonous to the touch, explains Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs weed specialist Mike Cowbrough. The poisonous weed… Read More
Canadian researchers are working on ways to increase the use of pulses in snack foods, not just as a tool to improve market access for producers, but also as a way to improve the nutritional aspects of processed foods. “We’ve been working with pulses at CIGI here for over a decade now and we’ve learned… Read More
It’s “adaptable and rugged,” and, it’s on the market. The Viking, Versatile’s brand new vertical tillage unit, was unveiled in July, at Ag in Motion, just outside of Saskatoon, SK. “It’s designed to aggressively chop, cut and size residue, and mix it into that top one, two, three inches of soil,” explains Trevor Jubenville, in… Read More
Dry conditions can be tough on soybean residual herbicides, but with a little rain, they’re up to the task, says BASF field biologist Rob Miller. He concedes that in a dry year like 2016 in Ontario, residuals can be less effective, “but you’re still seeing the value of residual weed control, especially with burndown. Even… Read More