Glacier FarmMedia – Participants in a new twine collection effort stand to win $3,000 each for 4-H or their favourite agricultural organization or charity. With $12,000 in total cash prizes, the Great Twine Round-Up is a province-wide initiative to promote the recycling of used plastic baler twine. The more bags of twine each participant drops […] Read more
Jeff Melchior
Stories by Jeff Melchior
Rural Alta. communities eligible for funding
Provincial government makes $3 million available for small and Indigenous rural communities to grow their economies
An additional $3 million has been earmarked by the Alberta government for rural Indigenous and small communities to “grow their economic footprint.” The funding represents the second round of grants through the government’s Small Community Opportunity Program, said a recent news release. Last year, grants between $20,000 and $100,000 for 43 community-led projects were granted […] Read more
A Canadian has caught bird flu. Now what?
Victim’s case has commonalities with subtypes infecting poultry birds and dairy cows across North America
The highly pathogenic avian influenza that put a British Columbia teenager in critical condition appears to be the same subtype that has infected poultry farms in Western Canada and dairy herds in the U.S. The Public Health Agency of Canada National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg verified Nov. 13 that the teen’s illness was caused by […] Read more
How to avoid a ‘family war’ on farm succession
An estate planner says a family conference that includes lawyers can help take the teeth out of farm transition disputes
Glacier FarmMedia – There are countless books, articles and seminars with advice on farm succession but those resources often fall short of addressing how to salvage things when family discussions fall apart. Farmers can take the teeth out of disputes by incorporating a purposeful family conference into the proceedings, farm management adviser John Poyser told […] Read more
Producers weigh pros and cons of blackleg test
Race identification offers canola growers a precision-level guide to the exact resistance that they need, but will it work?
By now many canola producers have heard about race-testing blackleg samples. It’s a precision testing practice that recommends the canola variety needed to fend off different “races” of blackleg, the fungal crop disease costing Canadian canola producers hundreds of millions of dollars a year. One might look at it as another tool to integrate into […] Read more
Driverless combines possible, but not for a while
A lot of other fully autonomous equipment will hit the field before automated harvesters do, says expert
Not long ago, a piece of farm equipment trundling through a field without need for a driver was front-page news. Today, autonomous technology still draws the crowds during farm show demonstrations and has been cropping up more and more — everywhere except on farms. John Deere’s website displays the promise of a fully autonomous tillage-tractor […] Read more
Weather called biggest ‘yield robber’ this year
Too much rain and heat on many parts of the Prairies caught canola at vulnerable stages, reducing yields
The biggest “yield robber” of canola on the Prairies turned out to be the weather, says an authority on the subject. Although periodic heavy rainfall compounded the emergence of diseases and predatory insects, disagreeable weather caused considerable damage all on its own. Both the western and eastern Prairies received extreme weather that weakened canola production […] Read more
Study aims for finishing benchmarks
Feedlot and backgrounding sectors called to participate in a two-part project that looks for insight on finishing practices
If you’re a feedlot or backgrounding operation manager with an hour to spare, a group of Canadian researchers wants your help. The team behind the Canadian Feedlot Benchmark Study says their survey, now under way, will help create a national benchmark database of backgrounding and finishing practices used in herds across Canada. The stated goal […] Read more
Frost-damaged fababeans may make suitable hog feed
Results of a Canadian research project show that pork producers may have a new, safe and low-cost feed source. Researchers with the University of Alberta, as well as the University Autónoma de Baja California and Mexicali, México, set out to establish the benefits of frost-damaged fababeans in pig diets. They found that feeding frost-damaged fababeans […] Read more
Price transparency provided
If one took Farm Business Network’s price transparency process down to its very basics, it could be called an online crowd-sourcing tool for the lowest — and highest — crop protection and seed prices in Canada. In short, it runs on farmer power. The more invoices farmers submit when they buy these products, the more […] Read more
