With the arrival of autumn officially this week, and the first report cards rolling in on the 2022 growing season (that’s yield x price, by the way), it’s time to talk about first thoughts on winners and losers of acres for ’23. While the big crops — wheat and canola in the west and corn… Read More
How do you feel about phone surveys? If you answered a resounding, “I love them!” you’d be in the clear minority of farmers. Farmers have increasingly called for a reduction or even an end to Statistics Canada’s planting and production phone surveys. In response, StatsCan has, over time, been phasing in more remote sensing and… Read More
If you’ve had a miscommunication over grams per acre, or bushels instead of tonnes, or just how far 20 paces is, you might want to weigh in on our latest poll. Around the RealAgriculture water cooler, we’ve laughed and grumbled about how confusing certain measurements can be, especially when some are obscure, or there’s inconsistency… Read More
Joey Votto broke the record for Major League Baseball games played by a Canadian this past week. The Cincinnati Reds first baseman, who grew up in Toronto, Ont., played his 1,989th game, breaking the mark held by Hall of Famer Larry Walker of Maple Ridge, B.C. Votto was also mic’d up and in the spotlight… Read More
Winter wheat harvest is nearly complete across Ontario, and Western Canada is nudging ever closer to swath timing and the start of harvest. For many, setting up the harvest crew is a challenge. Finding the right people or sometimes just enough people can be really difficult, so we want to know — where are you… Read More
Look, life can get a little too serious sometimes. Carving out some much-needed downtime is good for your mental well-being, your relationships, and your work. In the spirit of summer fun, we decided to focus this week’s poll on a summer sport — water sports, to be exact. We want to know, what’s your favourite… Read More
The Bank of Canada surprised many this week, announcing a 100 basis-point increase in its interest rate. The market expected a 75 basis-point increase, and there was discussion of it being lower, not higher. Increasing interest rates are designed to curb inflation, which is climbing at an incredible rate. We want to know: what impact… Read More
Farmers in Western Canada can be forgiven for feeling just a little hesitant when pricing new crop earlier this year, given how many were on the wrong side of a grain contract after the drought of 2021. But even the most risk averse farmer has had an opportunity to price into a heck-of-a market…until now…. Read More
The federal government has published the Clean Fuel Regulations, part of its plan to “decarbonize” the energy sector. The policy is a double edged sword for agriculture — on one hand, low-carbon-intensity fuel includes ethanol and renewable diesel, which can create marketing opportunities for corn, wheat, canola, and soy. But many fear that the end… Read More
As Canadians, we have a lot of things in excess — fresh air, clean water, ample land, and an embarrassment of trees. But, when it comes to lazy summer days and weekends at the cottage, our season can be rather compact once you take out the time for seeding and planting, scouting, spraying, making hay,… Read More
Is there a word you’re just totally sick of? Maybe it’s a marketing buzzword, such as free-range or grass-fed, or maybe it’s a policy or economic term, such as sustainability or global pandemic. Whatever it may be, some words start out as possibly positive but with time (and maybe overuse) they start to irk us…. Read More
Picture this: You’re driving down a backroad and a vehicle approaches. You glance at your hand on the steering wheel. What happens next? Does one finger move up with a nod of recognition? Do you give a two finger salute? Maybe you give an entire hand wave? Or, if you’re like me, sometimes the wave… Read More
As the calendar flips to June, farmers are urgently trying to complete planting or seeding across Canada. No matter the reason, whether you are feeling behind or there’s poor weather on the horizon, we all tackle the logistical challenges of planting and seeding in different ways. Some farmers are solo artists, while others have large… Read More
Weather is the one subject we just can’t help but talk about. As I sit here in southern Alberta and look out at the rain drops — albeit, not large amounts of it, but hey it’s rain — finally pitter-pattering against the window, I’m thinking about rainy-day traditions. On our farm, since we do live… Read More
There’s no denying the precision placement that a planter delivers, and there can be other advantages, too, including lower seed costs. But there are challenges to planting vs. seeding. Planters can limit fertility applications in one pass and require slower driving speeds. Plus, if you’ve got a well-equipped seeder, switching to or adding a new… Read More
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