(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Alberta to lift residency rule for public grazing lands

The Alberta government plans to remove a restriction on non-Albertans’ use of public lands for grazing, in a bid to smooth out paths for interprovincial trade. The province on Saturday announced it will do away with eight of its declared exceptions under the interprovincial Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA). Of the eight, three deal with […] Read more

The U-shaped Dot A-U1 “loads” a SeedMaster row-crop planter on to its platform during the demonstration at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show. (Ralph Pearce photo)

Pearce: Autonomous platform makes Eastern Canada debut

It’s been dubbed “the future of agriculture” and for the first time, farmers in Eastern Canada had the opportunity to see the Dot A-U1 Power Platform with in-field demonstrations at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show. The precision ag system, designed by Dot Technology Corp., attracted considerable attention going through its paces during the annual ag showcase, […] Read more


Harvest restarts in Alberta, late progress seen in all regions

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of September 17

Reading Time: 5 minutes Harvest operations have resumed in most parts of the province, thanks to warmer and windy conditions. However, progress has been slow, due to some shower activities bringing from less than one mm of rain in the eastern and southern parts of the province to upwards of 30 mm in some areas in the Peace Region. […] Read more

A hay ration that costs eight cents per pound is basically the break-even point, says a provincial farm business management specialist.

Is it worth feeding your cows this winter?

The cost of hay is up this fall and you can easily slip into a loss if prices are too high

Reading Time: 2 minutes High feed costs again in 2019 have many producers wondering about the economics of overwintering their cows. “The question is, is it even feasible to keep cows?” said Ted Nibourg, a farm business management specialist at the Alberta Ag-Info Centre. “Some are liquidating their entire herds. Others are culling heavily, and many are trying to […] Read more


GenAg’s dealership at Portage la Prairie, Man. (GenAg.com)

Dutch distributor buys into Manitoba Claas dealerships

Corrected, Sept. 17 — A major Dutch farm equipment distributor is buying into the Manitoba equipment business, with a deal for Hepson Equipment and a partnership stake in GenAg. Royal Reesink announced Friday it has bought a controlling stake in Hepson and has a partnership deal in place with the Kehler family, owners of GenAg. […] Read more

Wet weather slows harvest progress across Alberta

Wet weather slows harvest progress across Alberta

Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of September 10

Reading Time: 5 minutes Wet weather late last week has slowed down harvesting in most areas across the province and particularly in the North East and North West Regions. Precipitation has been variable, ranging from less than 5 mm in some parts of the Peace Region, to 30-40 mm in the North East and more than 40 mm in […] Read more


(Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)

Frost strikes in numerous spots in Manitoba

MarketsFarm — Numerous areas throughout the growing areas of Manitoba experienced frost, according to the province’s crop report for the week ended Monday. The coldest locations were Sprague in the eastern region, Narcisse in the Interlake and Lake Audy in the southwest, which experienced temperatures of -2 C on Sept. 8. Many other areas saw […] Read more

Manitoba’s agriculture minister Ralph Eichler, shown here at an Aug. 27 pre-election forum hosted by the Manitoba Farm Writers and Broadcasters Association, easily held his riding of Lakeside in the Sept. 10 provincial election. (Manitoba Co-operator photo by Geralyn Wichers)

Ag minister returned, ag critic downed in Manitoba vote

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives easily kept their agriculture minister while hanging onto a marginally slimmer majority government in Tuesday’s provincial election. Ralph Eichler, the Tories’ ag minister since 2016 and the MLA for the Interlake-area constituency of Lakeside since 2003, defeated New Democrat challenger Dan Rugg of Elie on Tuesday night by a spread of 4,340 […] Read more


P.E.I. Premier Dennis King speaks Sept. 9, 2019 during an update on effects from Hurricane Dorian. (PrinceEdwardIsland.ca)

FCC to offer flexibility in hurricane-battered areas

Farm Credit Canada says it plans to help its farmer clients in Atlantic Canada work around financial pressures following Hurricane Dorian’s passage through the region over the weekend. “We won’t know the full extent of damage for some time, but we’ve already heard that some customers will likely be facing some financial hardship as a […] Read more