Wellington | Reuters — Global dairy prices unexpectedly eased in the overnight GlobalDairyTrade auction, a platform established by New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group, the world’s biggest dairy exporter. Fonterra’s GDT Price Index dipped 1.6 per cent, with an average selling price of $2,458 per tonne, in the auction held Tuesday (all figures US$). Whole milk […] Read more
Global dairy prices unexpectedly fall in overnight auction
Tech conference brings together bright minds to ‘hack’ ag industry issues
The Emerging Agriculture conference Jan. 9-11 aims to foster ag industry innovations
Reading Time: 3 minutes Move over, Silicon Valley — hackers will soon be setting their sights on Saskatoon to solve the industry’s biggest problems. The agriculture industry, that is. “Emerging Agriculture is a weekend hackathon where we get students and non-students interested in agriculture together to collaborate on agriculture-based technology and ideas, and hopefully make some startup companies out […] Read more
Sympathy for jailed ranchers, anger at occupiers in Oregon town
Burns, Ore. | Reuters — Residents of the Oregon town thrust into the spotlight after self-styled militiamen took over a U.S. wildlife refuge voiced sympathy for the jailed ranchers whose plight inspired the action but were critical of the armed protesters. Saturday’s takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside the town of Burns, Ore., […] Read more
Oregon activists picked the wrong battle, militia leaders say
Reuters — Self-styled militia members who seized federal property in rural Oregon in an effort to galvanize opposition to the U.S. government appear to have made a tactical error — potential allies say they picked the wrong battle. As armed anti-government activists occupied a snowy wildlife refuge for a third day to call attention to […] Read more
Thunder Bay ag research station gets stay
More time has been bought for a northern Ontario agricultural research station on the brink of closing to come up with a new operating plan. The Ontario government on Monday announced $350,000 in bridge funding for the not-for-profit Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Association, operator of the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station (TBARS), to “develop a […] Read more
Protesters occupy Oregon wildlife refuge as rangeland dispute flares
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Princeton, Ore. | Reuters — A group of self-styled militiamen occupied the headquarters of a U.S. wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon to protest the imminent jailing of two ranchers, officials said Sunday, in the latest skirmish over federal land management in the U.S. West. The occupation, which began on Saturday, followed a march in Burns, […] Read more
Say hello to the creatures that live in your soil
There are just four basic types of soil organisms, but the diversity and sheer numbers of them are breathtakingly large
Reading Time: 3 minutes When you’re standing on your land, you’re atop an ecosystem with a diversity rivalling that of a coral reef. “Soil organisms are abundant and varied — you can find anywhere from 100 to 100,000 individuals in a single square metre of soil,” soil ecologist Jeff Battigelli told attendees at the recent Western Canada Soil Health […] Read more
What happens above changes the world below
Tilling, spraying, fertilizing, and even grazing can have big impacts on the microbial world
Reading Time: 2 minutes Many conventional agricultural practices generate a homogenous soil habitat — and that’s not a good thing, says soil ecologist Jeff Battigelli. “Basically, you just keep knocking things down. It’s not allowed to get very complex; there is a simplified community structure, with very few species,” said Battigelli. Homogenous soils need constant human intervention and resources […] Read more
Deep snow in California mountains offers hope in drought
Reuters — A cold, wet start to California’s winter has dumped nearly five feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, state water experts said Wednesday, fuelling hope that 2016 will bring enough precipitation to help offset four years of drought. Snow surveyors headed to the mountains in Phillips near Lake Tahoe on Wednesday for […] Read more
Put more jingle in your jeans this winter
Shopping around, alternative feeds, and how you store your hay can make a huge difference to the bottom line
Reading Time: 3 minutes With cattle prices off their record highs, many producers are sharpening their pencils. And it can be well worth it. “We have to watch our input costs — that’s the one thing we can control,” said Dean Dyck, a farm business management specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry. “If our incomes go up but our […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
