Reading Time: < 1 minute With summer field days cancelled for now, Alberta Wheat and Alberta Barley are hosting webinars every Wednesday at 11 a.m. Each In The Field webinars will feature a guest presenter and Q-and-A session. The upcoming schedule is: U of Alberta Professor Boyd Mori on insects (May 20); retired provincial agronomist Ross McKenzie on in-crop nitrogen […] Read more
Crop webinars being held Wednesdays
Soil moisture a mixed bag in 2020
Reading Time: < 1 minute Soil moisture reserves remain extremely variable across the province, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry said in its latest update. These range “from one in 12- to 25-year lows through small areas in the central and northeast regions, to one in 50-year highs through the Fox Creek/Edson area and also around Hawk Hills in the northern Peace […] Read more
Ontario stretches production insurance deadlines
Three already-passed deadlines bumped to June 1
Ontario farmers who missed their April 1, May 1 and/or May 10 deadlines for production insurance filings now have until June 1 to enroll or make coverage changes. Agricorp, the provincial farm program delivery agency, announced the extension Thursday. The extension gives farmers the “time and flexibility to make business decisions and to assess their […] Read more
New dean of agriculture named for U of S
Soil science prof Angela Bedard-Haughn takes over Aug. 15
One of Western Canada’s major post-secondary ag institutions will get a new hand at the wheel this summer. The University of Saskatchewan announced Wednesday it has named soil science professor Angela Bedard-Haughn as the dean for its College of Agriculture and Bioresources for a five-year term starting Aug. 15. Raised on a family farm in […] Read more
Laid-off foreign workers may get conditional clearance for other jobs
Workers allowed to start new jobs while permits are processed
Approved temporary foreign workers (TFWs) whose jobs disappeared before they could begin work in Canada this spring can now get much quicker approval to start at other workplaces, including farms, where the workers are needed. The federal government said Tuesday it will, effective “immediately,” temporarily waive its rule requiring a TFW to receive federal approval […] Read more
Buhler to halt Farm King manufacturing at Fargo
Work to move to company's Minnesota plant
Farm equipment maker Buhler Industries plans to gather its U.S. manufacturing work into one plant in Minnesota this summer and halt operations at nearby Fargo, N.D. The Winnipeg company, whose product lines include Versatile tractors and sprayers and Farm King application, tillage and hay equipment, said Monday it’s “optimizing” its U.S. production to boost efficiency […] Read more
Canada’s growers look to reopening garden centres to salvage dire year
Ottawa | Reuters — Hard-hit Canadian flower and nursery growers hope a surge in demand from budding gardeners in Ontario, the country’s biggest market, can help the industry avert disaster caused by the coronavirus with retailers reopening on Friday in the populous province. Most non-essential businesses in Canada were shut in mid-March as officials urged […] Read more
Adjustments likely ahead for StatsCan’s early acreage estimates
Projections still in line with grain trade's expectations
MarketsFarm — The results of the first acreage estimates for 2020 from Statistics Canada come with an asterisk, as the COVID-19 pandemic halted data collection early. Canada’s actual seeded area is expected to see some shifts from the projections released Thursday. “As a result of the timing of the COVID-19 pandemic, these estimates were produced […] Read more
Wet fall and late spring a recipe for increased weed risk
Pre-seed burn-off will depend on what’s popping up in your fields, so scout early, says weed scientist
Reading Time: 2 minutes You won’t hear weeds complaining about the weather — which adds up to another headache for producers. “Because we were so dry last spring, there were quite a few fields that didn’t get a pre-seed burn-off because there was nothing growing yet. I don’t think that’s going to be the same circumstance this year,” federal […] Read more
‘Murder hornet’ findings worry agriculture officials
Invasive pest known to decapitate honeybees, take over hives
Reuters — The Asian giant hornet — an invasive, predatory insect dubbed the “murder hornet” — has been seen in the Vancouver area and may pose a threat to the beekeeping industry and potentially to people if it establishes there, a U.S. official said Monday. The stinging Vespa mandarinia can grow as large as 2-1/2 […] Read more
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