Reading Time: 4 minutes It seems as though everyone is talking about regenerative agriculture these days. But nailing down exactly what it is can be a challenge. “I completely agree that there are a lot of issues with being able to define what regenerative agriculture is,” said Kris Nichols, a Calgary soil microbiologist and well-known expert on soil health. […] Read more
Regenerative agriculture is all the rage, but what is it exactly?
There’s no simple answer, but experts say soil health is at the heart of this approach
Opinion: The emissions controversy offers an opportunity for both sides
Like many farmers, I’m concerned but also see there’s a way to move forward if we work together
Reading Time: 3 minutes You may have heard the buzz lately. There has been a lot of talk about emissions, environmental impact, and what the future looks like with a changing climate. The past few weeks have been dominated by conversations about the government of Canada’s plan to reduce emissions from on-farm fertilizer use. With little substance revealed regarding […] Read more
Watch the big picture and local situation, say grain market analysts
A slowing global economy is a key storyline but so is the basis offered by your local elevator
Reading Time: 4 minutes Global economies appear to be “falling off a cliff,” with reduced demand for crude oil and other commodities pressuring grain prices downward, says an Alberta-based commodities analyst. At the same time, lower than expected U.S. corn yields are supporting canola, wheat and soybean prices, said Errol Anderson, president of ProMarket Communications. Be ready to move […] Read more
Window for getting climate fund cash closes in early November
There’s been a rush of applications for grants, which can be as much as $75,000 per farm
Reading Time: 2 minutes The main Alberta administrator of funding under the On-Farm Climate Action Fund — a program offering up to $75,000 per farm — says its application deadline for the first round of funding is Nov. 7. Around 200 operations put in applications in the first month after the application window opened Aug. 4, Results Driven Agriculture […] Read more
U.S. railroad strike averted
Biden calls deal a 'win for America;' strike's impact would have reached up into Canada
Updated | Washington | Reuters — Major U.S. railroads and unions secured a tentative deal on Thursday after 20 hours of intense talks brokered by President Joe Biden’s administration to avert a rail shutdown that could have hit food and fuel supplies across the country and beyond. Biden called the deal a “big win for […] Read more
U.S. rail embargoes may stymie some Canadian rail traffic
CN halts most cross-border traffic; CP also monitoring situation
Mindful of the potential for snarls on their own tracks, Canada’s big two railways are monitoring talks between a clutch of major U.S. railways and several of their labour unions to avert strikes and/or lockouts that may begin as early as Friday. As of Wednesday, three unions out of the 12 representing unionized rail workers […] Read more
GETTING THE DIRT ON DIRT: Big hopes for soil database app
U of A researcher wants app to be ‘soil carbon central’ for producers and carbon credit market
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s no easy way to know whether management practices are putting carbon back into the soil, or how much. But Alberta producers may soon have an app that measures soil carbon, shows what management practices work best in their area, and allows them to trade carbon credits with high emitters. “Theoretically the app would help […] Read more
U.S. railways to halt grain shipments ahead of potential shutdown
Fall fertilizer traffic also at risk
Chicago | Reuters — Some U.S. railroads will start halting crop shipments on Thursday, a day ahead of a potential work stoppage, an agricultural association and sources at two grain co-operatives said on Tuesday, threatening exports and feed deliveries for livestock. With farmers starting to harvest autumn crops that are shipped to meat and biofuels […] Read more
N may be making your soils more acidic
N fertilizer changes the soil microbiology and that affects how tightly phosphorus is bound
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Prairies have millions of acres of acidic soils, which can cause a host of problems, so no producer wants to make it worse. But many say nitrogen fertilizer does just that, so an expert with Agriculture Canada is trying to find out if that’s true and if so, to put some numbers on the […] Read more
U.S. working with U.N. on Russia food, fertilizer export complaints
Black Sea pact up for renewal in November
New York | Reuters — The United States is working with the United Nations to address Russian complaints that sanctions are hindering its food and fertilizer shipments, even though there has been no disruption to Moscow’s exports of the commodities, a senior U.S. official said on Friday. The United Nations, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia agreed […] Read more