Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil | Reuters — Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest rose to its highest in over a decade this year, government data on Monday showed, confirming a sharp increase under the leadership of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. The data from Brazil’s INPE space research agency, which showed deforestation soaring 29.5 per cent […] Read more
Brazil Amazon deforestation soars to 11-year high
Plunging prices and better tech should put drones on your radar
Drones with sophisticated imaging tech can be robust precision tools for managing cattle on pasture
Reading Time: 5 minutes Producers are always being pitched new technology, and the marketing din is arguably louder than ever in this age of precision agriculture. So when producers ask if unmanned aerial vehicles are just expensive toys, it’s a fair question. While John Church would be the first to admit he has a lot of fun researching the […] Read more
New grazing lease plan a win for producers, say cattle groups
The groups feared long-frozen rental rates would be seen as a subsidy and lead to a countervailing duty
Reading Time: 3 minutes Grazing leases are about to change for the first time since 1994 after years of work by Alberta Beef Producers and the seven grazing lease associations in the province. The quarter-century-old system could have attracted potential tariffs on Canadian cattle, so the changes were necessary, said Rich Smith, executive director of Alberta Beef Producers. “The […] Read more
Dorian swept swimming cows two miles to North Carolina beach
Cape Lookout National Seashore, N.C. | Reuters — Three cows have been spotted beachcombing on a remote barrier island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, swept to an unlikely grazing spot when Hurricane Dorian whipped waves powerful enough to carry them two miles from their home. One of the bovine bodysurfers was seen soon after the […] Read more
Stubble grazing presents nutrition issues for cattle
Reading Time: < 1 minute If you’re turning cows out in stubble fields or allowing them to graze slough hay or mature hay along fences and headlands, there are nutritional factors to consider, says a provincial forage specialist. Straw, chaff and overmature grass hays are typically low in protein, energy, calcium and magnesium, but relatively high in phosphorus, said Barry […] Read more
Alberta harvest continues, 11 per cent of crops remain
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of November 5
Reading Time: 6 minutes Following a cooler than normal growing season, September brought several wet spells, interspersed by two major dry spells, each lasting less than two weeks. In October, wet spells occurred more frequently, with the northern half of the province blanketed with a few cloudy days. Over the past month, all areas in the province experienced below […] Read more
Difficult Manitoba harvest nearing its end
MarketsFarm – In the latest and last weekly crop report for 2019 from Manitoba Agriculture, issued Nov. 5, the overall harvest reached 89 per cent complete province-wide However, it has continued to be a very tough slog for farmers as they contend with muddy fields, in which equipment has left deep ruts. In some areas, […] Read more
Alberta producers battle for harvest progress
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of October 29
Reading Time: 3 minutes One more week of harvesting between weather events, and another blast of winter this past weekend brought snow or rain to many areas in the west and north halting operations yet again. The strong winds that accompanied the cold front have scattered canola swaths and blown snow into and over top of swaths still left […] Read more
Saskatchewan harvest progresses under adverse conditions: report
MarketsFarm – Saskatchewan farmers continued to plug away at the harvest over the past week, with 90 per cent of the crop in the bin as of Oct. 28, according to the latest provincial report. That was up seven points from the previous week, but still behind the five-year average of 96 per cent complete. […] Read more
Weather plays nice to see Alberta harvest pick up pace
Alberta Crop Report: Conditions as of October 22
Reading Time: 5 minutes Significant momentum was made in some areas getting crop in the bin this past week, with the provincial average currently estimated at 74 per cent of all crops combined. This jump is primarily attributed to Central, North East and North West regions where 26, 16 and 13 per cent respectively of Major Crop* acres were […] Read more