Reading Time: < 1 minute The fourth edition of Agriculture for Life’s #FarmBabies photo contest is now open. “Our #FarmBabies19 contest is a fun way to welcome spring on the farm and celebrate the countless hours of work that farmers and farm families spend caring for their new arrivals,” said Luree Williamson, CEO Ag for Life. “Many people don’t understand […] Read more
Got a new cutie on the farm?
Crop and calf insurance premiums are down this year
The cost of crop insurance is nine per cent lower, although where you live and what you grow makes a difference
Reading Time: 2 minutes Most crop producers will see lower crop insurance premium rates this year, says the Agriculture Financial Services Corporation. And cow-calf producers will see reduced premiums for the Western Livestock Price Insurance Program, too. On average, 2019 crop insurance premium rates are nine per cent lower than last year, AFSC said in a news release. It […] Read more
VIDEO: Tractor operator saves cow trapped in mud after flood
AccuWeather – Dubas Equipment in Nebraska shared this video of the careful efforts a tractor operator used with a front loader to save the life of a cow stuck in the mud after the state’s historic flooding. The video has since gone viral so Dubas has put together a “Nebraska Strong” t-shirt to sell with […] Read more
Closing the loop: Food waste gets gobbled up on farms
Chickens eat sushi while washing it down with non-alcoholic beer
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sushi, sandwiches, broccoli, yogurt, and non-alcoholic beer. Sounds like things you might eat when in fact, it’s what I feed my chickens. Yes, you read that right. My chickens eat sushi and drink non-alcoholic beer on occasion. It’s all thanks to a program called The Loop and a local grocery store chain, Save-On-Foods. The Loop […] Read more
U.S. farmers face devastation following Midwest floods
Winslow, Neb./Chicago | Reuters — Midwestern farmers have been gambling they could ride out the U.S.-China trade war by storing their corn and soybeans anywhere they could — in bins, plastic tubes, in barns or even outside. Now, the unthinkable has happened. Record floods have devastated a wide swath of the Farm Belt across Iowa, […] Read more
Livestock, pets among victims in U.S. Midwest flooding
Reuters — The floods that have devastated large swaths of Nebraska and Iowa since late last week left house pets homeless, inflicted an unknown toll on livestock and led to several daring water rescues of animals from dogs to horses. Rescuers in the Omaha area, where the Platte, Elkhorn and Missouri rivers began spilling over […] Read more
U.S. farm belt slammed by floods, heavy snow from bomb cyclone
Reuters — A harsh late-winter storm broadsided a vast swath of the U.S. agriculture industry this week as heavy snow closed roads and buried cattle in the Plains while excessive rain flooded Midwest fields and swamped grain elevators. A “bomb cyclone” hurled hurricane-force winds, sparked tornadoes and dumped heavy snow and rain across the Plains […] Read more
Canada to boost airport detector dog corps
With African swine fever top of mind, the federal government plans to more than double the total number of detector dog teams at Canada’s airports within five years. Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, speaking in Montreal Thursday, announced new funding of up to $31 million over five years to add 24 Food, Plant, and Animal Detector […] Read more
Spring is the time for testing your farm’s water supply
Testing for every possible contaminant is expensive — here’s what should be at the top of the checklist
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s up to rural landowners to keep their water safe — and spring is the ideal time to get that job done, says a water quality expert. “Winter can accumulate pollutants, then spring thaw and run-off carries the previous six months’ worth of pollutants down to groundwater and sideways towards surface supplies,” said Mitch Golay, […] Read more
U.S. to train more beagles to sniff out swine fever
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. government will increase the number of dogs used to sniff out illegal pork products at airports and seaports in an effort to keep out a contagious hog disease that has spread across Asia and Europe, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday. The disease, African swine fever, can […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
