Leon's Manufacturing building.

Leon’s Manufacturing in receivership

Saskatchewan equipment manufacturer had been plagued by complaints over delivery delays

Reading Time: < 1 minute Farmers waiting for equipment purchased from Leon’s Manufacturing are dealing with new uncertainty now that the Yorkton-based company has been placed in receivership. Ernst & Young has been named the appointed receiver for the case, according to a court order dated June 11. The document names both Leon’s Manufacturing and Ram Industries Inc. as debtors. […] Read more

The Alberta Sugar Beet Growers say a national strategy would allow industry expansion.

Beets won’t benefit from Hamilton sugar refinery

Sugar beet growers want more market share for their locally grown crop, but they won’t get it from Canada’s newest sugar refinery

Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – When shelves across Western Canada were empty of sugar after strike action at the Rogers Sugar refinery in Vancouver, Canada’s sugar beet growers renewed calls for a national sugar strategy. Groups including the Alberta Sugar Beet Growers have long decried Canada’s reliance on imported cane sugar rather than Canadian-grown sugar beets. Alberta’s crop makes up about eight per cent of the sugar consumed […] Read more


Cattle take shelter in the stalks of Brett McRae’s intercropped corn grazing system.

Corn-soybean intercrop put to grazing test

The novel crop combination is getting an even more novel utility test

Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Brett McRae is spicing up his corn grazing system this year. He’s got more than one variety growing – a grazing-oriented option and the typical silage corn – but the real experiment is happening beneath the canopy. This year, the corn shared space with forage soybean and hairy vetch. The beans were […] Read more

Striped flea beetles 
gather on a canola plant.

Prepping for the 2024 canola crop

Planning for crop stresses now will set growers up for success when it is time to act: agronomists

Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Winter isn’t exactly prime time to scout for insects, diseases and weeds, but last year’s pests may provide a baseline to help prepare for the next canola crop, agronomists say. “Review the challenges you had last year and have a plan in place as to how you’re going to handle them this […] Read more


“We need to be a little bit more certain about supply.”

‘We’ve always taken for granted that the sugar’s always been there’

Sugar shortage highlights beekeeper feed vulnerability, Praire beekeepers say

Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Beekeeping groups on the Prairies say it’s a good thing Western Canada’s sugar shortage didn’t happen a few months ago. The bees are now tucked away for the winter, but August and September are prime feeding seasons when beekeepers condition their colonies for winter and natural nectar sources are drying up. “We’ve […] Read more

Ryan Canart outlines his operation during a July field tour.

Yearlings get schooled in rotational grazing

Ryan Canart trains a new group of animals every year and says they take to it well

Reading Time: 3 minutes Ryan Canart’s approach to pasture management reflects a lot of the principles that have become old hat during grazing tours across the Prairies. He is among the proponents of rotational grazing. His 907 animals are mostly moved daily through relatively small paddocks, with a goal to grow soil health and productivity. His land features an […] Read more


(Flaman Group video screengrab via YouTube)

Farm groups push for Bill C-234 passage

Ag groups concerned that carbon tax exemption bill won’t clear Senate before break

Prairie farm groups are pushing the Senate to prioritize a bill that would exempt propane and natural gas for grain drying and barn heating from carbon tax. In a joint statement June 13, Keystone Agricultural Producers, the Alberta Federation of Agriculture and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan urged the Senate to pass Bill C-234 […] Read more

A handful of soil health projects have secured funding for the next five years in the hope of kick starting soil health practices in the field. (Assiniboine Community College photo)

Multi-million-dollar fund greenlights soil health projects

Eight projects to push soil health practices will get funding for the next five years

Eight soil health projects across Canada will be getting a multi-million-dollar boost in private funding over the next five years. The Weston Family Foundation — the philanthropic arm of the Weston business empire — has slated $10 million for those eight projects through the organization’s soil health initiative, it was announced Feb. 13. The initiative […] Read more


Four-wheel-drive tractors and air seeders have been in short supply all year, says an official Rocky Mountain Equipment, which has 36 dealerships across Western Canada.

The shortage of farm equipment may not ease until 2024

Dealers — and a new report from FCC — suggest tight supplies are the ‘new normal’ and unlikely to change soon

Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Farm equipment dealer Guy Deroche was pleasantly surprised about parts orders this fall when delivery was better than expected. Supply chain disruptions were a hallmark of the year, forcing producers and agri-businesses to scramble for inputs, for equipment components, for livestock ear tags and a long list of consumer products. There were […] Read more

Economics of herd rebuilding depend on cull rate, study finds

Economics of herd rebuilding depend on cull rate, study finds

Retaining heifers works best if culling wasn’t too severe, but economies of scale are key

Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – A farm’s best plan when it comes to rebuilding the cattle herd after drought may have a lot to do with how deeply it had to cull, according to the Beef Cattle Research Council study. The study drew information from 17 farms registered with the council’s cow-calf production network from Western Canada […] Read more