Reading Time: < 1 minute The Alberta Wheat Commission is urging the federal Liberal government to quickly pass Bill C-49, which will overhaul the Transportation Act. In a presentation to the standing committee on transport earlier this month, commission reps also recommended amendments to make interswitching more effective and requiring railways to provide more detailed volume forecasts and operational plans […] Read more
Ottawa urged to quickly pass transport bill
Alberta’s newest meadery takes a different approach
Reading Time: 3 minutes Alberta’s newest meadery is doing things a little differently. Along with a traditional honey wine, Tamarack Jack’s Honey and Meadery also produces a variation that might tempt those who prefer a brewskie to the so-called ‘drink of the gods.’ “We are a small apiary turned into a meadery just recently,” Katie Kingdon, manager of the […] Read more
Proceed with caution when it comes to micronutrients, says agronomist
It’s not hard to spend thousands of dollars on micronutrients that aren’t needed or produce little benefit, says Ross McKenzie
Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers need to put on their critical thinking caps when dealing with micronutrient claims — or risk spending lots of money for no or marginal results. There is a lot of hype surrounding supplemental micronutrients right now, said Ross McKenzie, a retired agronomy research scientist. However, not all micronutrients are created equally; some of the […] Read more
There are extreme rains, and then the deluge caused by Harvey
Some parts of Texas received more rain in 24 hours than Prairie centres have seen in their wettest-ever month
Reading Time: 2 minutes As fairly quiet weather continues across the Prairies, the big weather story recently has been Hurricane Harvey, which came ashore in Texas late on Aug. 26. Harvey rapidly strengthened in the 12-hour period leading up to landfall and came ashore as a borderline Category 4 hurricane, with top winds of 210 kilometres per hour. It wasn’t […] Read more
With interest rates on the rise, is it time to lock in?
Variable rates have been a winner for decades, but a fixed rate is an option worth considering
Reading Time: 2 minutes Is it time to lock into a fixed long-term mortgage? “Since 1975, the majority of the time the variable interest rate has been the better option and has saved producers money,” said provincial farm financial specialist Rick Dehod. However, the Bank of Canada recently increased its prime rate by a quarter of a percentage point […] Read more
Steady harvest progression, but yields, crop quality suffers
Alberta crop conditions as of August 22
Reading Time: < 1 minute A week of warm and relatively dry weather throughout the province benefited crop development in the northern regions and allowed harvest to progress rapidly in the South. Crop Conditions have stabilized at 54 per cent rated good or excellent, down less than 2 points on the week. Provincial harvest progress has advanced to 6 per […] Read more
Perennial sow thistle costs farmers across Alberta
Noxious Weeds: Perennial sow thistle causes yield loss and acts as a host for pests
Reading Time: 2 minutes Often found in high densities across Alberta, perennial sow thistle seems to be a noxious weed that doesn’t quit. Not only does this pest cause significant yield loss in many crops, but it’s a host for several plant pests that attack economically important crops such as alfalfa, winter wheat and canola — just to name […] Read more
Prairie grain growers have a big stake in NAFTA talks
Trade deal has produced great benefits and can be made even better
Reading Time: 3 minutes The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a boon for Canadian agricultural producers, facilitating cross-border trade and commerce, and fuelling the economic performance and growth of this highly export-driven sector. It has achieved this mainly through the continued reduction of tariffs on agricultural goods, but also through measures addressing non-tariff trade barriers, sanitary and […] Read more
Big divide in crop and cattle marketing
Grain growers have options that most cattle producers just won’t have this fall
Reading Time: 4 minutes Drought conditions in Alberta will have an upside for crop growers when marketing, but it’s nothing but bad news for cattle producers. “From a bigger-picture perspective, certainly we’re going to have fewer bushels in Western Canada than in the past couple of years, and that is generally going to be supportive to prices,” said FarmLink’s […] Read more
Don’t like the grade or dockage assessment?
For $50, the Canadian Grain Commission will give you an independent assessment of the quality of your canola
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta producers are reporting large variations among buyers in their dockage assessment on canola, says a provincial crop market analyst. “On dockage alone, producers have reported from one to over three per cent differences in dockage on the same sample of their canola,” said Neil Blue. “These differences were reported both in cases of comparing […] Read more
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