Reading Time: 2 minutes Boosting the carbon tax to $170 per tonne will push up the cost of producing and transporting wheat by $12.50 an acre, says the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS). Three-quarters of that cost will come from the additional cost for propane for drying wheat and from a surcharge that CN and CP Rail will […] Read more
Carbon tax will increase costs by $12 an acre, says farm group
Costs for drying and shipping grain will soar as carbon tax rises, says APAS
Going green could be golden for canola growers
Ottawa’s new ‘clean fuel’ rules could quadruple the amount of canola processed into biodiesel
Reading Time: 4 minutes Ottawa’s new “clean fuel” rules aren’t in place yet — much less new biodiesel plants — but going green will be a big win for canola growers, say industry officials. “We are excited about the opportunity because what drives the demand for feedstock is the ability of that feedstock to lower the carbon emissions of […] Read more
Celebrating everyday things is a gift in 2020
Reading Time: < 1 minute What was your favourite story in the paper during the past year? That’s an easy one — it was the front-page story of the May 18 paper bearing the headline, Life and its blessings continue during these troubled times. Or at least the uplifting stories of seven families from rural Alberta struck a chord with […] Read more
Get more bang for your fertilizer buck by focusing on rates
It’s not easy to determine the optimum rate, but start with post-harvest soil testing, says soil scientist
Reading Time: 4 minutes A bumper crop of canola or wheat is bound to put a smile on your face. But writing a cheque for replacing all the nitrogen used by that crop? Not so much. And those cheques are only going to get bigger if the trend for N use continues on the same track it’s been on […] Read more
Minister revises order on rail speed limits in cold weather
Higher-risk trains can back up other rail traffic; revised order eases some restrictions
Reading Time: 2 minutes The federal transport minister has revised an order that railways feared would unnecessarily slow down freight traffic on frigid winter days. The new rule dials back one issued last spring after the fiery derailment of a CP Rail train carrying crude oil near Guernsey, Sask. in February. Although the order by the federal transport minister was […] Read more
Give a thought to serving on a farm group, says outgoing barley chair
You’ll not only help your fellow farmers but learn a lot and meet ‘great people,’ says Dave Bishop
Reading Time: 2 minutes Getting producers to serve on farm groups can sometimes be a challenge — but those who do typically say it’s been a great experience. And that includes outgoing Alberta Barley chair Dave Bishop. “We all have term limits and my term is up,” said Bishop, who farms near Barons. “It’s been a bit of a […] Read more
Call to pay dairy farmers to quit misses the mark, says Alberta Milk
Report predicts half of dairy farms will go out of business in a decade without sweeping changes in the sector
Report predicts half of dairy farms will go out of business in a decade without sweeping changes in sector
Reading Time: 5 minutes CORRECTED, Nov. 19 — Alberta’s milk sector faces challenges — but a call to pay farmers to quit the business and to overhaul the entire system is off base, say industry officials here. A recent report from the Agri-Food Analytics Lab says that without major changes, Canada could lose half of its dairy farms in […] Read more
More crop per drop — irrigation gets ‘historic’ cash injection
New $815-million project will irrigate another 200,000 acres without any additional water allocation
Reading Time: 3 minutes There are a lot of big numbers behind a “historic” expansion of southern Alberta’s irrigation system, but also the smallest possible one — zero. That’s the amount of extra water that will, or rather won’t, be needed to add more than 200,000 irrigated acres that will be created by a $815-million project, officials say. “With […] Read more
Railways say they’re more prepared than ever
Increased capital spending and better technology will improve performance, CN and CP both say
Reading Time: 3 minutes When the federal government passed the Transportation Modernization Act in 2018, the headline news was the requirement for railways to negotiate level-of-service agreements with grain companies — and face penalties for poor service. But the act also requires the railways to produce ‘winter plans’ to show how they’ll keep grain moving when the weather turns […] Read more
Battered pork sector proposes ‘simple solution’ to trigger aid
Upping the payout from AgriStability would throw a lifeline to hog producers facing ruin, says pork council
Reading Time: 3 minutes With pork producers fighting to stay afloat but government unwilling to step in, industry leaders have come up with a new pitch: Instead of making it easier to get assistance, have AgriStability pay out more when things are really bad. In a recent letter to the country’s ag ministers, Canadian Pork Council chair Rick Bergmann […] Read more
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