Photo: Reuters/Ben Nelms/File

Global crop yields have not kept up with increasing demand 

Sluggish production blamed on adverse weather conditions and high input costs that lead to reduced fertilizer use

The global stocks-to-use ratio for the major crops, excluding China, has been trending down since 2018, Jason Newton, Nutrien’s chief economist, told delegates attending the 24th International Farm Management Association Congress in Saskatoon.

Les Henry. (University of Saskatchewan video screengrab)

Prairie soil scientist and author Les Henry, 83

Henry's outreach to farmers spanned more than half a century

Glacier FarmMedia — Saskatchewan soil scientist Les Henry, well known for his work on improving Prairie farmland and his outreach to Prairie farmers in the pages of Grainews, has died. Ending a long fight with congestive heart failure, Henry died Friday in Saskatoon at age 83, having continued to write until very shortly before his […] Read more



A man is seen outside the house damaged by Russian shelling, Odesa Region, southern Ukraine. (Photo by Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/Sipa USA)

Ukraine: Our common hive

The people of Ukraine continue to adapt, survive and even thrive

Reading Time: 5 minutes You wake up in the morning and drink coffee before starting the work day. You turn on the TV and listen to a long list of deaths and destruction that happened in your country overnight. The announcer speaks almost without emotion, as if he is talking about everyday, ordinary things. You hear that 10 missiles […] Read more


Phosphate rock mining in the island country of Nauru, 2007. Unlike nitrogen, which can be captured from the air through natural cycles, phosphate is a declining resource which must be mined or captured from waste. Credit: Lorrie Graham/AusAID/Wikimedia Commons

Martison Phosphate Project aims to make Canada self-sufficient in phosphorus

Reading Time: 3 minutes A lot of what determines what Canadian farmers pay for phosphate fertilizer and how readily they can get it happens outside of Canada’s borders. According to Stephen Case, chief executive officer and president of Fox River Resources, Canada has become completely reliant on phosphate sourced from other countries like the U.S., Russia and Morocco. He’s […] Read more

Saying there are no pesticide runoff problems and proving it are two different things. But extensive and independent testing and lab analysis found pesticide residues were well below prescribed limits.

U of M study looks into sources of water nutrient loads

Soil and vegetation may play a larger role in excess nutrient runoff

Reading Time: 3 minutes A new study is giving more insight into where nutrients running off into Prairie waterways are coming from — and pasture manure may not be the biggest culprit. The study, led by soil scientist David Lobb and Marcos Cordeiro of the University of Manitoba’s department of animal science, sought to model nitrogen and phosphorus levels in […] Read more