Reading Time: 4 minutes Conditions weren’t ideal for verticillium stripe this year but the Canola Council of Canada says growers should stay alert when it comes to the disease. “Verticillium stripe is a soil-borne pathogen and it overwinters in the soil,” said Courtney Boyachek, agronomy specialist and verticillium stripe lead with the council. “Last year was a bad year […] Read more
Raising the profile of verticillium stripe
Identifying the new-ish fungal threat on the block can be tricky because it resembles blackleg
Interswitching resurgence puts rail, grain industries on collision course
Both sides say a pilot to test a bigger interswitching radius is a bad move, but for completely different reasons
Reading Time: 6 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Recent federal legislation has raised the stakes in a decade-long battle between the railways and Canadian grain shippers. The fight is over the interswitching radius. Interswitching is a regulation to ensure that shippers located where only a single railway operates can access points that are not served by that railway. The regulation […] Read more
Creating a canola-based plastic alternative
New research turns canola protein into strong, flexible films meant for food packaging
Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Canola growers may one day be able to add food packaging to their list of markets. New research at the University of Manitoba draws on canola meal protein as a feedstock for biodegradable food product packaging. “I think it’s a more sustainable solution to the challenges created by all the petroleum-based plastic […] Read more
Company targets precision feeding in hog barns
Funding heats things up for Manitoba ag-tech startup
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – A Canadian agricultural tech startup hopes its product will raise the bar for feed monitoring systems in hog barns. “Our sensor goes right on the feed line within the barns, as opposed to general load cells, which go on the bins, or laser systems that are at the top of the bin […] Read more
Federal and provincial ag ministers meet in Fredericton
Environmental issues remain a hot topic for provincial agriculture ministers. That and sustainable agriculture dominated discussions during the recent federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) agriculture ministers meeting in Fredericton, N.B. The annual conference was held from July 19-21. The focus on sustainable agriculture tracks, as this is the first time the ministers have met since […] Read more
Preview: Railways, grain shippers at loggerheads over interswitching
Pilot to test expanded radius deemed unnecessary by both sides
Recent legislation has raised the stakes in a decade-long battle between the railways and Canadian grain shippers over the interswitching radius. Interswitching refers to a regulation to ensure shippers located where only a single railway operates can access points that are not served by that railway. The issue is especially concerning for Canadian grain shippers […] Read more
New vaccine tools launched for cattle
Reading Time: 3 minutes Cattle farmers have a new set of tools to help manage vaccination programs for their herds, courtesy of the Beef Cattle Research Council. “As livestock and land managers, we have a lot to consider year to year,” said Brodie Haugan, chair of Alberta Beef Producers. “Tools like the BCRC’s vaccine backgrounder, vaccine handling guidelines, and […] Read more
PSAC federal worker strike could hit at grain transport
Prolonged strike could cause grain shipment delays, lead to demurrage costs
The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) strike is drawing fire from Canadian agricultural commodity groups — mostly concerned with how grain transportation could be disrupted. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association issued a strongly worded press release on Tuesday after striking picketers targeted Vancouver’s Cascadia grain terminal, co-owned by Viterra and Richardson International. “A […] Read more
Buy or rent? Land rent-to-price ratio can help farmers decide
FCC sees current ratios on farmland as (roughly) stable
Higher interest rates don’t seem to be affecting the ratio between land values and land rental costs — at least, not yet. Farm Credit Canada’s latest analysis of farmland rental prices says they’re roughly maintaining their traditional linkage, says J.P Gervais, the organization’s chief economist. “We were curious to see whether that would bring up […] Read more
Spring’s a good time for preventing residue snafus, say agronomists
Customers are watching and will be checking that Keep It Clean protocols are being followed
Reading Time: 2 minutes Most Alberta growers are on top of their pesticide choices and crop storage, says an Alberta agronomist. But even the most astute farmer can have blind spots and should be periodically checking the Keep It Clean website, said Keith Gabert, an Innisfail-based agronomy specialist with the Canola Council of Canada. He points to malathion in […] Read more
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