Reading Time: 2 minutes There’s a new farm conference in town this winter. “We’re reimagining it as a new show,” said Todd Hames, chair of the FarmTech Foundation of Alberta. The foundation has switched gears and is putting on a revamped event, called CrossRoads, at the Edmonton Convention Centre on Jan. 24-25. “We wanted to create a new feel […] Read more
FarmTech slims down to focus on ‘big picture’ issues
The new event, called CrossRoads, will have fewer attendees, no trade show and no agronomy presentations
FarmTech is a go this winter
Reading Time: < 1 minute FarmTech will be held this January after missing last year because of the pandemic, the foundation that runs the event says. FarmTech 2022 will take place Jan. 25-26 at the Edmonton Expo Centre — but there will also be a virtual version. “Hosting a hybrid event will bring more value for sponsors who help make […] Read more
FarmTech cancelled, Agri-Trade still a go
Reading Time: < 1 minute The foundation that puts on FarmTech is cancelling the popular event, which was slated to run in January. “The FarmTech Foundation looks forward to when we can safely reconvene for… Canada’s premier crop production and farm management conference,” said a statement from the foundation, which is comprised of the provincial wheat, barley, canola and pulse […] Read more
Choices, choices: Which presentation to take in next?
Reading Time: < 1 minute It was another sold-out FarmTech as the annual crop production and farm management conference celebrated its 20th anniversary. The three-day event at Northlands’ Expo Centre features several dozen speakers and presenters.
Buckle up: Here’s your economic forecast for 2019
Canada’s top ag economist has the lowdown on the economy, trade, interest rates, and your income
Reading Time: 4 minutes What’s the forecast for Canadian ag? How about murky with a good chance of turbulence? ‘Headwinds’ was the phrase du jour when the country’s foremost ag economist came by FarmTech late last month. “There are lots of good things going on in the industry, but lots of headwinds as well — trade tensions, weather, excess […] Read more
Rural crime presentation draws a packed house at FarmTech
RCMP superintendent urges audience to let police do their job and to avoid confronting intruders
Reading Time: 4 minutes Rural crime is a topic that everyone wants to talk about. “This is not just an issue in Alberta, but across the country,” RCMP Supt. Peter Tewfik said at a crowded FarmTech session. Rural property crime actually went down by 10 per cent in the province in 2018, he said. This means 480 fewer home […] Read more
Robo-tractors invented by farmers are already here
Software-savvy producers aren’t waiting for equipment makers — they’re writing code and automating their machines
Reading Time: 5 minutes Kyler Laird did it the John Deere way when he returned to the family farm in Indiana after his father’s death in 2010. But after five years of sitting in a tractor, planting crooked rows of corn, he decided to do it his way instead. “Even when I was a kid out discing or out […] Read more
Are you keeping your accountant awake at night?
The thought of farms getting hit with a huge — and unnecessary — tax bill is a scary one, say two tax experts
Reading Time: 3 minutes What keeps you up at night? Up and down commodity prices? Weather? Finding (or keeping) rental land? For accountants Ryan Stevenson and Dean Gallimore, it’s the thought of farmers getting whacked with a tax bill they could easily avoid. “One of the best things about farming is that farming companies can transfer from one generation […] Read more
Scaling up: How to take small-size research from plot to field
Many farmers are skeptical of small-plot research results, but proper protocols are needed to scale up to a field level
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers are making some pretty big decisions off test strips — and that scares JP Pettyjohn. “We could flip a coin and pretty much come up with the same answer,” said Pettyjohn, a crop technology instructor at Lakeland College. “I don’t want an answer. I want the right answer.” Small-plot trials have been widely used […] Read more
Adapt to the new world order, says Stephen Harper
Globalization foes are just getting started, but free traders can thrive if they adapt
Reading Time: 4 minutes He was enthusiastically welcomed as the prime minister who scrapped the wheat board, earning a standing ovation before the first word of his keynote address. But Stephen Harper had his eyes on an even bigger farm issue when he spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of nearly all of FarmTech’s 2,000 attendees. In a sweeping political […] Read more
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