A dry, cool spring has checked pasture growth in Saskatchewan and a hay shortage is looming. The province’s latest crop report notes topsoil moisture in hay fields and pasture is rated 42 per cent short and 24 per cent very short. Crop district 7A, in west-central Saskatchewan, has the dubious distinction of being the driest […] Read more
Dry spring puts Sask. grass, hay in short supply
WHO agency says insecticides lindane, DDT linked to cancer
London | Reuters — The insecticide lindane, once widely used in agriculture and to treat human lice and scabies, causes cancer and has been specifically linked to non-Hodgkin lymphoma, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday. The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) also said that DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane) probably causes cancer, with scientific […] Read more
Canada ratifies UPOV ’91 seed treaty
Canadian crop commodity groups are hailing the federal government’s move to ratify Canada’s participation in the international UPOV ’91 treaty as a signal the country is “open for national and international investment.” Canada’s representatives to the World Trade Organization, on Friday in Geneva, deposited the government’s “instrument of ratification” for the 1991 Act of the […] Read more
The damage to crops is done — but how much worse will it get?
It’s not a writeoff yet, but recovery potential is limited and a late harvest seems inevitable, says crop expert
Reading Time: 3 minutes After one of the “driest Mays on record,” producers across the Prairies are wondering how their crops are going to fare this growing season. It’s not looking good. “The crops are going to be substantially smaller than they have been over the past few years,” Bruce Burnett, CWB crop and weather specialist, said in an […] Read more
The five keys to assessing rangeland health
The old adage about not being able to manage what you can’t measure applies to rangelands
Reading Time: 3 minutes Native rangelands are key assets to livestock producers — and rangeland health assessments allow them to adjust grazing practices to achieve productive, sustainable grazings. A rangeland assessment system looks at the five key functions of rangelands: integrity and ecological status; community structure; hydrologic function and nutrient cycling; site stability, and noxious weeds. And in all […] Read more
Things not going as hoped? That’s normal, says crop specialist
Whether it’s production conditions or markets, producers need to have a Plan B
Reading Time: 2 minutes Preparation is key when dealing with the unexpected, says provincial crop specialist Harry Brook. “There’s always a lot of talk about ‘normal’ when talking about cropping and agriculture,” said Brook. “Advanced planning and adjustments are needed to avoid possible devastating results when ‘normal’ doesn’t occur. Whether it applies to spring weather conditions or markets or […] Read more
Greater rest periods for pasture means more profits
Reading Time: < 1 minute A day spent grazing works out to just half the cost of feeding cattle and adds $1 per head in profit, says forage and livestock business specialist Grant Lastiwka. Allowing for greater rest periods during the growing season will increase its carrying capacity, and allow producers to put cattle out earlier in the spring and […] Read more
Guenther: Rain drops in on NW Sask.
Farmers and ranchers in northwestern Saskatchewan received much-needed rain late last week and over the weekend. Tom Brown raises cattle and is a crop reporter for Saskatchewan Agriculture and the reeve for the Rural Municipality of Mervin. His farm at Turtleford, about 80 km east of Lloydminster, received 11 mm of rain on Thursday night, […] Read more
New developments in forage-breeding research
One of the more recent offerings is hybrid bromegrass, which offers high first-cut yields and fairly rapid regrowth for grazing
Reading Time: 3 minutes Cattle producers across Western Canada rely on perennial forage grass species to provide their livestock with ample nutrition during the grazing period and for hay. Mother Nature provided these grasses with winter hardiness and reasonable drought tolerance needed to prosper in the Prairie climate — but University of Saskatchewan researchers have done their part, too. […] Read more
Prairies’ forage a tale of mixed moisture levels
CNS Canada — Forage crops in Saskatchewan and Alberta are badly in need of rain, while alfalfa is already being cut in Manitoba, a testament to the difference in moisture levels across Western Canada. The majority of the snow in Alberta was gone by the end of March, according to the chairwoman of the Alberta […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
