Reading Time: 3 minutes With fertilizer prices through the roof, everyone and their dog is advising farmers to soil test like never before. But assessing your soil isn’t a simple business. “Soil potential is going to be determined by organic matter, cation exchange process, pH and the soil nutrients that are available, electrical conductivity and base saturation,” said Rachelle […] Read more
Put away the snacks and pay attention when it’s soil sampling time
High fertilizer prices mean soil sampling is especially critical this year — and that means doing it right
When it’s this pricey, handle fertilizer with care
Do a soil test, and realize what has happened to your nutrients after the drought, says expert
Reading Time: 3 minutes Between drought and the soaring price of fertilizer, you might want to manage your grain farm a little differently this year. “In a dry year, there will be reduced crop growth and reduced nutrient uptake,” soil scientist Rigas Karamanos said at Agronomy Update earlier this month. “We had plenty of heat, but not moisture. Consequently, […] Read more
Schoepp: Pitting one farming practice against another benefits no one
Dismissing regenerative agriculture — or synthetic fertilizer — out of hand is not the way forward
Reading Time: 3 minutes The use of synthetic nitrogen is being debated around the world by farmers and scientists. Stirring the discussion further last month was an opinion piece titled “Nutrient Claims are Crap” written by Jaqueline Rowarth in a New Zealand publication called Rural News. In it, the agrologist took a run at regenerative agriculture, describing it as […] Read more
Thunder Bay shipping season wraps up
MarketsFarm — The last vessel of the shipping season will depart the Port of Thunder Bay on Friday. Grain handling volumes were down on the year, but increases in other categories helped limit the overall reduction in movement through the northern Lake Superior port. The 2021 navigation season will come to a close with the […] Read more
Last year was world’s sixth-warmest on record, U.S. scientists say
Heat content of oceans at record level, NOAA says
Reuters — Last year ranked as the sixth-warmest year on record, causing extreme weather events around the world and adding to evidence supporting the globe’s long-term warming, according to an analysis on Thursday by two U.S. government agencies. The data compiled by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA also revealed that […] Read more
Cross-border supply chains still may face disruptions from vaccine mandates
CLARIFIED, Jan. 13 — Ottawa/Washington | Reuters — COVID-19 vaccine requirements for foreign truckers at the U.S.-Canada border still could cause supply-chain disruptions if both countries do not decide to allow exemptions, the head of the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) said Thursday. Canadian truck drivers who aren’t vaccinated may enter Canada by right — but […] Read more
Yara to stop buying potash from Belarus due to sanctions
Fertilizer firm buys 10-15 per cent of country's potash output
Oslo | Reuters — Norwegian fertilizer maker Yara said on Monday it will wind down purchases of potash from Belarus by April 1 as international sanctions made it impossible to continue the trade. Yara estimates that it buys 10-15 per cent of the annual output of state-owned Belaruskali, one of the world’s largest producers of […] Read more
Canada resists pressure to drop vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers
Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is pushing ahead with a vaccine mandate for international truckers despite increasing pressure from critics who say it will exacerbate driver shortages and drive up the price of goods imported from the United States. Canada will require all truckers entering from the U.S. to show proof […] Read more
Fertilizer prices to remain high for now
MarketsFarm — There are two factors to consider when it comes to fertilizer. One is the cost as it’s to remain quite expensive at least through the first quarter of 2022, according to Chris Lawson, head of fertilizers for the CRU Group. The other is its availability, said Todd Lewis, president of the Agricultural Producers […] Read more
Gross revenue tally provides ‘interesting’ take on drought impact
If you had average yields and captured high fall prices, your per-acre revenue might have gone up
Reading Time: 2 minutes It won’t be of any comfort for those who had a wreck this year, but high prices mean gross revenue for most crops may have been as good or better for some compared to last year, according to a provincial market analyst. “Using the average yields and prices, there is a significant offset of the […] Read more