Reading Time: 4 minutes With all the decisions that must be made in a growing season, on-farm research trials are a way for farmers to increase the odds of making the right call on major changes. “When you do something yourself on your own farm, you can be pretty certain it will work in your conditions,” said Lewis Baarda, […] Read more
They don’t wear lab coats but more farmers doing on-farm research
Getting scientifically valid data takes time and work -- and often at the busiest times of the year
Pulse sector fears another ‘container crunch’ come fall
Prices have fallen a bit but they’re still sky high and a container shortage persists
Reading Time: 4 minutes The supply of shipping containers is a little less tight — but the problem isn’t fixed and could flare up again this fall, says an official with Pulse Canada. Rates peaked last autumn, then started rising again in the new year before finally beginning a steady downward trend in February, according to the World Container […] Read more
Keep an eye out for drought-caused nutrient deficiency in your cattle
Nutrient deficiencies have ripple effects, including slower gain and lower pregnancy rates
Reading Time: 4 minutes Feeding cattle through last year’s drought was tough enough — but for some producers, its impact on the health of their cattle isn’t over. “The biggest challenge for producers through the drought was finding good-quality feed for a feasible price. A lot of low-quality fibre like straw was fed,” said Courtney O’Keefe, ruminant nutritionist at […] Read more
FROM TOY TO TOOL: The sky’s the limit for farming drones
There’s better software and powerful zooms, and both spraying and seeding are advancing quickly too
Reading Time: 6 minutes From flashy toy to just another tool in the tool box — for many farmers, drones have simply become an everyday part of the work they do. “It’s not as novel as it was a few years ago,” said Markus Weber, president of LandView Drones. “For a lot of people when they buy a drone, […] Read more
Signs of mental health struggles easy to overlook in agriculture
Reading Time: 4 minutes Even after a tough year, the arrival of spring always seems to bring hope for a new season and optimism that this year will be better. But after several tough years — a global pandemic, drought in some regions and flooding in others, feed shortages, rising input costs, supply chain issues, and now war in […] Read more
Farmer-driven stewardship organization gets major funding boost
ALUS gets $5 million for expansion and to find a better way to measure carbon sequestration
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new $5-million initiative aims to find a better way to measure the carbon that Canadian farmers sequester in the soil to make sure they’re being paid fairly for the ecosystem services they produce on their land. “Despite what you might hear, carbon quantification in Canada is not very well advanced,” said Bryan Gilvesy, CEO […] Read more
College aims to tame the data beast running amok on today’s farms
Data can take farms to an entirely new level — but only if it doesn’t overwhelm you first
Reading Time: 4 minutes It seems like every part of your average farm is generating data these days — but your average farmers still don’t know what to do with it all. “The more data we have, the harder it is to figure out what to do with it,” said Simon Knutson, agriculture technology faculty instructor at Olds College. […] Read more
Clubroot diagnosis no longer a death sentence
The disease continues its relentless spread across Alberta — but the risk has become more manageable
Reading Time: 5 minutes John Guelly felt as though he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness when he found clubroot in his canola fields nearly 10 years ago. But in the decade since then, the Westlock-area farmer has come to view the disease as more of a chronic condition — still risky, still potentially devastating, but ultimately manageable […] Read more
Be strategic when rebuilding your cattle herd following drought
Rebuilding your herd with your own heifers will be the best option for most operations
Reading Time: 4 minutes Producers who were forced to cull their herds during last year’s drought may need years to rebuild their herds back to pre-drought levels. “When the drought hit last summer, one of the questions that came up was what if guys had to cull really hard,” said Brenna Grant, executive director of Canfax. “Every operation has […] Read more
Sold-out shelves are back — but now it’s vegetable oil in short supply
Global supply was tight before Ukraine invasion, and now some countries are imposing limits on shoppers
Reading Time: 4 minutes Toilet paper. Dairy products. Flour. In the early days of the pandemic, everyday staples became near-luxury items as signs went up limiting purchases to one or two per customer. Now, thanks to another global crisis disrupting supply chains, vegetable oil is getting the same treatment in some parts of the world. “There’s already a strong […] Read more
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