MarketsFarm — After copious amounts of precipitation alleviated the most severe drought conditions in Saskatchewan and Alberta, there were still some areas dealing with extreme dryness entering July, according to the Canadian Drought Monitor. At the end of June, only 22 per cent of the Prairie region was classified in the Abnormally Dry (D0) to […] Read more
Drought conditions remain in Alberta, Saskatchewan
Planting progress picking up in Saskatchewan
MarketsFarm — Overall spring planting across Saskatchewan reached 33 per cent complete as of Monday, according to the latest weekly crop report from Saskatchewan Agriculture. Despite the good progress over the week, that’s still 20 points behind the five-year average. When compared to the excellent progress this time last year, the gap expands to 41 […] Read more
Alberta seeding ahead of five-year average
MarketsFarm — While spring planting in Alberta is 12.2 per cent complete overall there’s a disparity between the south and the rest of the province. Also, the pace was 2.6 points above the five-year average, but 5.2 behind last year. As of Tuesday, Alberta Agriculture found seeding in the south was at 36.5 per cent […] Read more
Seeding already behind in Saskatchewan
MarketsFarm — Saskatchewan Agriculture on Thursday issued its first weekly crop report of 2022, showing only one per cent of all crops in the ground. The report cited cool temperatures and spring snowstorms holding back many farmers getting into their fields. The overall five-year average at this time of year is five per cent complete. […] Read more
Not warm enough yet for accurate read on Ontario winter crops
MarketsFarm –– The crop report on Wednesday from Ontario’s ministry of agriculture, food and rural affairs (OMAFRA) notes a lack of temperatures warm enough to accurately assess winter crops and/or to begin spring planting. OMAFRA determined winter wheat that was seeded on time looks healthier than what was planted later in the fall. Also, water […] Read more
You don’t want to hear this — but delay grazing, say experts
Even good moisture this spring won’t easily overcome the effects of drought
Reading Time: 4 minutes If you’re a cattle producer, you may be counting down the days until you can turn your cows out on grass. But three experts are telling you the best thing you can do is wait. “Watch what the plants tell you,” said Grant Lastiwka, a forage specialist with Union Forages. “A perennial pasture has a […] Read more
Program measures pasture progress by the numbers
Rather than focus on a theory, Ecological Outcome Verification relies on tracking measurable parameters
Reading Time: 3 minutes Years of researching how to get the most out of the pastures on his southern Ontario beef farm left Cory Van Groningen frustrated. “One book says only take the top sward and leave the rest to regrow; another book says use high-intensity grazing and trample it down; another book says take a third of the […] Read more
Saskatchewan ranchers backed for runoff control
Funding on offer for earth-moving work
Cow-calf producers in Saskatchewan may be able to get cost-shared funds from the federal/provincial Farm Stewardship Program to build ponds, ditches, dikes or berms to collect or manage runoff. The province and federal government on Tuesday announced such work now qualifies as a beneficial management practice (BMP) covered under the program. Eligible beef cow-calf producers […] Read more
Here’s how to stay (properly) grounded when installing electric fencing
Quality — whether ground rods, wire or insulators — is worth the money, says fencing expert
Reading Time: 4 minutes To anyone who’s never built one, an electric fence can seem like a pretty simple structure. In some ways they’re right — like any kind of electrical circuit, an electric fence requires a source of power, a conduit, some kind of ground and usually insulators. But, as is often the case, it’s only as good […] Read more
Klassen: Drier conditions will influence feeder market
The feeder market was hard to define this week. The quality of yearlings was quite variable. Fleshier types were heavily discounted while quality packages were unchanged from seven days earlier. Calf prices were mostly unchanged; however, values were down $4-$6 in drier pockets of southern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Southern Alberta barley prices were quoted […] Read more