CCA president Bob Lowe speaks at a press conference in Ottawa on March 21, 2022, calling for federal back-to-work legislation to end a work stoppage at Canadian Pacific Railway. (CPAC video screengrab via YouTube)

Ag industry groups seek legislated end to CP stoppage

Feed, fertilizer traffic already way behind, groups say

Warning they don’t have time to wait on negotiation, representatives for cattle feeders, fertilizer producers and grain growers took to Parliament Hill on Monday to press for the federal government to instead legislate Canadian Pacific Railway’s engineers and conductors back to work. Traffic halted on CP lines just after midnight ET Sunday morning as the […] Read more

Many producers are already using rotational grazing and 4R practices, but now Ottawa is sweetening the pot for Alberta producers with $33 million worth of incentives.

An open road ahead? Feds offer cash for fertilizer stewardship

Farmers could get up to $75,000 to move to rotational grazing, cover cropping or 4R stewardship

Reading Time: 5 minutes Upping your management game just got a lot more attractive. Producers willing to adopt rotational grazing, 4R fertilizer stewardship or cover crops will be able to get as much as $75,000 per farm from Ottawa’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund. [Read more] Feds seek ideas and feedback on reducing fertilizer emissions “The objective of the program […] Read more


(Dave Bedard photo)

AAFC warns of uncertainty in latest crop outlook

MarketsFarm — The supply/demand balance sheets for Canada’s major crops were largely left unchanged in the latest outlook Friday from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. While the March report only saw minor revisions, the government agency cautioned that “the economic outlook, for the world and Canadian grain markets, is particularly uncertain due to the Russian invasion […] Read more




Agronomy conference recap now available online

Agronomy conference recap now available online

Reading Time: < 1 minute Slides from presenters at Agronomy Update in January are now being posted online. So far, there are slides from presentations on weed control, the “lygus apocalypse,” effect of heat and drought on pests, fungicide application, soil sensors, how pulses impact soil health, fertilizer considerations for 2022, cover cropping, herbicide carry-over, herbicide-resistant weeds, pulse research, secondary […] Read more



“We’re experiencing significant increase in our calls that we’ve been getting from producers.” – Syeda Khurram.

It’s looking like a bumper crop of cash advances this spring

Cash flow a major issue as drought has left producers with less money while inputs have shot up

Reading Time: 4 minutes Groups administering cash advances are expecting a flood of applications from cash-strapped producers grappling with the sky-high costs of putting a crop in the ground. “We certainly think there is going to be demand because of how nasty last year was,” said Dave Gallant of the Canadian Canola Growers Association. “There’s going to be so […] Read more


This might be the sight from your tractor cab one day — barren trees, the odd bit of snow, and wheat seed going into the ground a month or so earlier than you ever imagined. This photo was taken on Gould Ranching on April 6 of last year and despite three snowfalls afterwards, would emerge lush and green.

How early can you go? Ultra-early seeding is pushing the boundaries

Some farmers are convinced seeding at the start of April or even weeks earlier is a winning strategy

Reading Time: 7 minutes While other farmers are still counting down the days until they can start seeding, Matthew and Farley Gould will already be out on their fields, getting it done. Last year, the brothers started seeding spring wheat nearly a month before their neighbours — and they plan to be “even more aggressive this year.” “We were […] Read more