Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – An Alberta livestock researcher wants to see if virtual fencing lives up to its promises once winter hits the Prairies. “If you have a technology that can’t work in -40 or -45, it has no place in Alberta,” said Lakeland College’s Obioha Durunna. Virtual fencing could fundamentally change the labour and infrastructure […] Read more
The arrival of virtual fencing?
Alberta researchers explore how well the technology withstands harsh Prairie winters
Campaign to boost canola’s image
Hello Canola campaign aims to reduce Canadian apathy, address misconceptions, organizers say
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Groups representing Prairie canola growers have a new campaign to boost their crop’s image among Canadians. Hello Canola is part of a national canola marketing program jointly funded by Alberta Canola, SaskCanola and the Manitoba Canola Growers. “The intention of the program is to help move Canadians from apathy for canola into […] Read more
FCC sees calmer waters ahead for crop input market
Have markets steadied, or is it the pause before another storm?
Reading Time: 4 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Farmers can breathe a sigh of relief knowing crop input prices have stabilized as the world adapts to global supply challenges. That was the message as Farm Credit Canada provided its latest update on input prices for the 2024 crop year. Fertilizer prices reached new highs in 2022 when the war in […] Read more
Turning back the clock with grazing
Cattle can help fill the biodiversity void left from the loss of bison
Reading Time: 5 minutes Cattle are often maligned for their contributions to greenhouse gas levels, but Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Tim McAllister says that’s wrongheaded. “We hear about people advocating for the need to eliminate livestock from agriculture production, basically without really understanding the negative connotations that would have,” the researcher said during a recent webinar. “We really need […] Read more
New mentorship program targets young grain farmers
National wheat grower group looks to inject youth into the board
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Wheat Growers Association is looking for young farmers who want to know more about agricultural policy objectives. “This is a great opportunity for young farmers to learn the effects different policies like transportation, trade, and environment have on their farm,” said Kaitlyn Kitzan, the association’s treasurer and director for Saskatchewan. Kitzan, 24, is a […] Read more
Do you know your trade MRLs?
Pre-harvest is the time to protect the crop’s marketability for international markets
Reading Time: 4 minutes Maximum residue limits can affect the marketability of a crop, so farmers need to heed them, say crop market experts. “Because we produce so much beyond what we need for our domestic demand for food, we really do need to keep in mind market access and those requirements that we see with our export partners,” […] Read more
Raising the profile of verticillium stripe
Identifying the new-ish fungal threat on the block can be tricky because it resembles blackleg
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
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
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
