Crops
Antwerp | Reuters –– European oil refiners urged the European Union on Monday to review laws calling for increased biodiesel content in road fuel because the cost of such renewables will counter the recent plunge in crude prices and weigh on the refining sector. “Governments should not inflict extra burden on the public by increasing […] Read more
Refiners urge EU to rethink renewables policy after oil collapse
Prairie CWRS bids ease with U.S. futures, CPSR up
CNS Canada — Average cash bids for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat deteriorated slightly during the week ended Friday, with losses in U.S. futures weighing on values. However, most other classes of wheat saw a slight improvement, as basis levels narrowed in. Average CWRS prices were generally down by about C$1 to $2 per […] Read more
Ex-Viterra chief returns to Agrium board
No longer lined up to lead Louis Dreyfus’ global commodities operations, Mayo Schmidt is back on the board of one of the world’s major ag retail and fertilizer firms. Schmidt — previously CEO at Viterra, Canada’s biggest grain handling firm, from 2000 to 2012 — had stepped down last month from Calgary-based Agrium’s board of directors in light of […] Read more
Payoff from variable-rate technology is variable
Study of variable-rate fertilizer application finds it’s not a ‘slam dunk’ — sometimes it pays and sometimes it doesn’t
Reading Time: 2 minutes Does variable-rate fertilizer application pay off? Sure it does — if you can find the areas of the field that need it, suggests a recent financial analysis of variable-rate technology (VRT) conducted in Lethbridge. “The more fertilizer you put on, the better results you get,” said Mark Wobick, a farm management consultant with MNP. “But […] Read more
Court tosses CP’s appeal on U.S.-bound grain interswitching
Confirming that a deal is as good as a fixed asset, a Prairie grain handler gets to keep using a lower-price rail route from Alberta into Montana, now that a Federal Court ruling has shot down an appeal from the railway taking grain down to the border. Writing on Jan. 2, Judge J.D. Denis Pelletier […] Read more
Tight rotations may not harm canola yields — but soil health suffers
A long-term study on diversity in rotations produced some surprises, but the benefits were also clear
Reading Time: 3 minutes Brian Beres wasn’t surprised to find more diverse rotations increase cereal grain yields, improve soil health, and increase microbial biomass. What surprised him was how canola fared under tight rotations. Quite well, as a matter of fact. “It was surprising to see that canola didn’t respond to diversity if you looked at crop response variables […] Read more
Fusarium on the march and wreaking havoc
Once limited to wheat fields in southern Alberta, fusarium head blight is spreading quickly into central Alberta and beyond
Reading Time: 3 minutes A devastating wheat disease is on the rise in Alberta — and spreading quickly. “Over the past few years, (fusarium) has increased considerably, and it’s fairly prominent now,” said Trevor Blois, disease diagnostician with 20/20 Seed Labs. “This year, around 16 per cent of samples that are submitted for a fusarium test in Alberta are […] Read more
Trouble looming if there’s another cool, wet spring
Four to Watch: Increasing disease levels over the last few years could lead to big-time outbreaks if the environmental conditions are right
Reading Time: 3 minutes This much is known. “We’re not going to have a disease-free year — that’s for sure,” said Michael Harding, a research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “The environment will determine how much we see and which pathogens have the ability to cause the most serious issues.” And just what kind of environment — […] Read more
Wheat models show climate change pressuring yields
A combination of multiple computer models of weather’s impact on wheat warns of a six per cent dent in world wheat production for every degree Celsius in temperature increase. Scientists have been trying for 20 years to estimate effects of temperature increase and climate change on wheat production, which accounts for 20 per cent of […] Read more
Argentina’s ‘Soy King’ abdicates in favor of biotech
Buenos Aires | Reuters –– The company that led the breakneck expansion of Argentine soy cultivation over the last two decades has quietly reduced the area it farms by more than half as inflation, trade restrictions and high taxes drain growers’ profits. Los Grobo, once known as the South American country’s “King of Soy” has […] Read more