Reading Time: 3 minutes It was hailed as a game-changer for Alberta’s milk sector but three years on, construction of a first-of-its-kind dairy concentration facility has yet to begin. “We thought the legal agreement, the regulatory oversight and the financing would take six to 12 months,” said Alberta Milk chair Stuart Boeve. “It wound up being two years so […] Read more
Got delays? Game-changing milk plant still on hold
Dewatering milk would slash transport costs, but securing needed agreements has been complicated
Change is coming, but the options are many, say food experts
Forum on the future of food offers interesting takes on what’s coming down the road
Reading Time: 3 minutes What does the future of food look like? An eclectic panel of experts offered very different answers to that question at a recent forum hosted by the University of Alberta. How we grow food and even what we eat is probably going to change, but the solutions to today’s problems will require creative thinking and […] Read more
Drones are ready to go spraying but regs haven’t kept up
Larger drones now a viable alternative but federal rules don’t allow spraying crop protection products
Reading Time: 4 minutes A single drone can fly into rough terrain and spray herbicide on hard-to-reach patches of weeds. Fly three of the largest in tandem and they have the airborne equivalent of a 100-foot spray boom, say proponents, with a cost one-quarter to one-third that of a 100-foot boom. Welcome to the world of drones that can […] Read more
Many farmers – but not all – are cashing in on interest-free loans
With the first $250,000 interest-free, producers can save big with a cash advance
Reading Time: 4 minutes There may not be such a thing as free cash, but an interest-free loan of up to a quarter-million dollars may be the closest thing to it. Administrators of the federal Advance Payments Program say they’ve seen a big jump in applications since the interest-free portion of the loan was increased to $250,000 (from $100,000 […] Read more
Irrigation districts laud provincial support of sector
Irrigation, already a driver in the province’s economy, is ramping up with a huge expansion
Reading Time: 4 minutes One thing is certain: Alberta’s irrigation sector has the ear of the provincial government. The sector, which is in the midst of an expansion worth nearly $1 billion, now gets top-line billing in the recently revamped Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation ministry. Its new deputy minister, Bassano-area crops and cattle producer Jason Hale, was chair of […] Read more
They’re crushing it: Canola plants seeing big-time profits
High crush margins mean demand should stay strong, but premiums for growers are scarce
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canola crush profits are high, but that’s no reason for growers to break out the champagne, say Alberta producers. Crush plants are riding a wave of demand and processed about 794,000 tonnes of seed in September, the most in a year. And with crush margins well above $200 per tonne for futures contracts (more than […] Read more
GETTING THE DIRT ON DIRT: Big hopes for soil database app
U of A researcher wants app to be ‘soil carbon central’ for producers and carbon credit market
Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s no easy way to know whether management practices are putting carbon back into the soil, or how much. But Alberta producers may soon have an app that measures soil carbon, shows what management practices work best in their area, and allows them to trade carbon credits with high emitters. “Theoretically the app would help […] Read more
N may be making your soils more acidic
N fertilizer changes the soil microbiology and that affects how tightly phosphorus is bound
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Prairies have millions of acres of acidic soils, which can cause a host of problems, so no producer wants to make it worse. But many say nitrogen fertilizer does just that, so an expert with Agriculture Canada is trying to find out if that’s true and if so, to put some numbers on the […] Read more
Be safe and profitable when storing grain
Best practices for safety and preventing spoilage in bins frequently cross over, says safety expert
Reading Time: 3 minutes The pre-harvest season is a good time to think about best practices around grain bin safety. Sounds like one more set of things to do on top of about a million others, right? Not necessarily, said a farm safety specialist. Those already taking action to minimize grain spoilage are also eliminating safety risks, said Robert […] Read more
Large bins may be too large when it comes to drying canola
Bins hold a lot more these days, and that makes it challenging to push air through small seeds like canola
Reading Time: 3 minutes When is a grain bin too big to allow for proper drying? When it comes to canola, leading researchers may now have an idea. The Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute (PAMI) found that commonly used conditioning fans stall when canola is piled too high in a tall grain bin. Adding an extra fan in parallel didn’t […] Read moreCyber-Savvy Farmer
