Reading Time: < 1 minute FarmTech may have wrapped up on January 31, but here’s a few things that took place and some faces we thought you might like to see.
PHOTOS: Scenes from FarmTech
Looking to earn bragging rights as the best wheat grower?
Applications must be submitted by July 1
Reading Time: < 1 minute Alberta Wheat Commission is holding a fun contest to find the “most productive wheat grower” in the province. There are separate categories for dryland and irrigated farms, and entrants must grow a registered class/variety that falls under the Canadian Grain Commission western standards (CWRS, CWHWS, CWAD, CWRW, CWSWS, CWES, CPSW, CPSR, CNHR, or CWSP). The […] Read more
Do it right and your small town could be ‘cool’
Reading Time: 3 minutes Imagine your rural town with bustling streets, thriving businesses, and growing numbers in the local school. Sound a little far fetched? Especially as you look around and see no signs of any such vision? But peer closely into the future — there’s a good chance your rural town could one day have a whole lot […] Read more
Adviser urges farmers to give up their sinful ways
Trying to hit the market peak, getting angry about mistakes, and putting off marketing chores are three of the seven ‘sins’ of selling your crop
Reading Time: 3 minutes While many grain growers came to FarmTech looking for insight on where markets may be headed in the coming year, Brian Voth challenged those attending his sessions with a different perspective on the game. Lured in by his title of ‘The Seven Deadly(ish) Sins of Grain Marketing,’ attendees soon found the Manitoba-based market adviser wasn’t […] Read more
Is a grain transportation remedy finally on its way?
A new rail bill is due this spring. Will Ottawa find a fix for long-standing issues or will it be more of the same old?
Reading Time: 3 minutes A new rail transport bill is on the horizon, but it’s still too soon to say whether that will bring about meaningful change for Canadian farmers. “We’ll see what comes out in the new rail bill — how far they’re willing to go on this,” said Steve Pratte, manager of policy development for the Canadian […] Read more
COVER CROPS: The potential is huge, but so is the learning curve
Those looking for a one-size-fits-all solution will be disappointed
Reading Time: 4 minutes Looking over at the emptied room that had been packed with attentive farmers a few minutes earlier, cover crops guru Kevin Elmy could only shake his head. “If I had given a talk here five years ago, maybe the front row might have been filled — maybe,” the Saskatchewan farmer said after his FarmTech presentation, […] Read more
Blair Roth wins pulse innovator award
Reading Time: < 1 minute Blair Roth is the winner of the third annual Alberta Pulse Industry Innovator Award. While working at Alberta Agriculture in the 1980s, Roth ran field-scale demonstrations for early soybean, lupin, fababean, chickpea, bean, pea and lentil crops. He helped establish the Alberta Pulse Growers Association and its transition to the Alberta Pulse Growers Commission in […] Read more
Expert says too many farmers working without a net
FarmTech: Fewer than one in 10 producers use options to set a floor price for their grain
Reading Time: 3 minutes Forget that old farm dog — options are a farmer’s best friend. “If you don’t have options in place, your tool box is not quite complete,” said David Derwin, an investment adviser with PI Financial. “If we can add a few more newer, sharper, better tools like options into the tool box, we’ve got a […] Read more
Good workplaces attract good workers
FarmTech: Farms can’t afford oilfield wages — but they can offer lots of ‘intangible’ benefits that really matter to people
Reading Time: 3 minutes Kevin Serfas had to change his way of thinking when he decided to expand his farm near Lethbridge. “One thing we’ve learned along the way is that we can’t run the farm by ourselves anymore,” said Serfas, who runs a 56,000-acre grain operation and 6,000-head feedlot with his father and brother. “We had to realize […] Read more
Accentuate the positive in modern farming
FarmTech: Croplife CEO says farmers ‘will never win’ the debate about farming practices if their message is all about science
Reading Time: 2 minutes Watch your language. That’s the advice of Ted Menzies for dealing with people who are fearful of modern farming practices. “We all face this challenge, it’s very complicated to explain,” said the president and CEO of CropLife Canada, an organization which represents the plant biotech sector. “We lead a very scientific life on the farm, […] Read more
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