Reading Time: 4 minutes Global prices for edible oil and meal have “virtually exploded” in recent weeks — good news for Canadian canola growers hoping to tap into the European market. “The average edible oil price, as well as the average oil meal price, are currently almost 40 per cent above the latest five-year average,” said Thomas Mielke, executive […] Read more
A deep market dive shows things are golden for canola
Top global authority on edible oil market sees strong demand continuing
Superstar or stinker? Merits of new seed varieties can all depend on your farm
There are lots of new varieties with ‘really, really good genetics’ but they might not be a fit for you
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s that time of year again. With a pen in hand, you flip through the pages, circling what looks good, hoping you’ll get what you want and praying that what you get will be as good as it looks on paper. Poring over the new Alberta Seed Guide may feel a little like flipping through […] Read more
Seize the opportunity to grow Canadian food exports
Canada can be ‘a leading supplier of food’ in the world if it strategically targets the right markets
Reading Time: 4 minutes Canada will need to grow and diversify its export markets if it hopes to reach its export targets by 2025, says a new report from Farm Credit Canada. “As an industry, we have quite ambitious targets when it comes to exports,” said J.P. Gervais, FCC’s chief agricultural economist. “The federal government put a $75-billion target […] Read more
Some cattle producers have a beef with fake-meat labelling
Is it misleading to use words like burger and meat for veggie substitutes?
Reading Time: 6 minutes Plant-based protein. Simulated meat. Alternative protein. When it comes to labelling fake meat, what’s in a name? Well, it depends on who you ask. Some say using words like ‘burger’ or ‘sausage’ to describe vegetarian fare is misleading. “To me, it’s obvious we’re producing the best meat product, because everybody else wants to call theirs […] Read more
Forget Facebook, toss out Twitter — TikTok is the new social media star
Reading Time: 4 minutes Jake Vermeer was enjoying a few beers at an industry meeting last winter when he thought it would be funny to try out TikTok. “I started watching it, and at first, it was kind of stupid. But as you start watching it more, you get more and more addicted,” the young Camrose-area farmer said of […] Read more
Go grab a coffee, the robots have got this
Future of Farming: Hook sensors, cameras, algorithms, and self-driving machines together, and farming becomes a new ball game
Reading Time: 5 minutes Just picture it: You’ve been watching your crop get rained on all week from your kitchen window, and it’s about time to do some crop scouting to see if you need to spray. But your farm is way ahead of you. Soil sensors have been monitoring moisture levels, and they’ve already called for reinforcements. A […] Read more
Fall fertilizer prices offer more good news for Prairie growers
Prices for urea, phosphate and anhydrous ammonia are all at the lower end of their normal range
Prices for urea, phosphate and anhydrous ammonia are all at the lower end of their normal range
Reading Time: 4 minutes Fertilizer prices have seen some ups and downs over the past six months, but the situation heading into winter looks favourable. “When we look at the overall input markets so far in 2020, we see that they’ve kind of eased up. For producers right now, that’s a pretty good spot to be in,” said Craig […] 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
On-farm research: Making it pay can be a tricky proposition
Plot2Farm project aims to show that a formal research protocol, and agronomic support, delivers results
Reading Time: 4 minutes Farmers are no strangers to on-farm research, but a new program aims to make these field-scale trials easier — and more profitable. “I think it boils down to dollars and cents,” said Gordon Ellis, a farmer from the Olds area who participated in the Plot2Farm program this year. “Everybody farms to make a living and […] Read more
A little here, a little there — how do you know when costs creep too high?
New cost-of-production program aims to offer cow-calf producers a better way to identify problem areas
Reading Time: 3 minutes Bad weather. Market volatility. The pandemic. There are a lot of things outside of your control as a cow-calf producer, but your cost of production doesn’t have to be one of them. “As the industry has been rocked by COVID-19, there is an opportunity for producers to examine what they can control — their cost […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
