The conversion has been gradual, but over the past 20 years, and especially the past 10, crop commissions have taken over more and more of the roles traditionally performed by provincial agriculture departments. In each province, at various times, acrimony has erupted over cuts to agricultural staff and functions. In the past, cuts were sometimes […] Read more
Kevin Hursh, PAg
Stories by Kevin Hursh, PAg
This seeding season has had a few frustrations
Here are some of this year’s seeding season frustrations. Perhaps you’ll relate to one or more. It’s been a few years since we’ve had significant rain delays during seeding, and one of the frustrations is seed inoculant for pulse crops. We’ve long used peat inoculant applied to the seed as it goes into the seed […] Read more
Fears surrounding Bunge-Viterra deal overblown
The proposed acquisition of Viterra by Bunge has generated a lot of heat in recent weeks. Some fears are valid, but many are overblown. The federal Competition Bureau has some serious concerns and has laid them out in a report. A number of farm organizations, including the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, SaskWheat, Sask Barley […] Read more
Who is Canada’s new chief grain commissioner?
When word came that the new chief commissioner of the Canadian Grain Commission was about to be announced, I expected a recognizable name. Perhaps it would be a prominent farmer and farm leader or maybe someone with extensive experience in farm policy or someone from the grain trade. When the name David Hunt was announced, […] Read more
Capital gains tax change will need more analysis
The federal government has tapped a new source of funding for its overspending — the capital gains tax inclusion rate. Farmers won’t be affected on a year-to-year basis, but in many cases, it will alter approaches to succession planning. The general public has a limited understanding of capital gains tax. Why would a wage earner […] Read more
Canada needs to accommodate spray drones
Adam Bercu, founder and CEO of a company called Guardian Agriculture, has altered my opinion on the future of spray drones. I recently met Bercu at a venture capital summit in the Silicon Valley, not far from San Francisco. He was a sponsor of the event and had one of his drones on display for […] Read more
Demand for minor acreage crops has stalled
None of the minor acreage crops appear to be shining stars ready to capture significant western Canadian acreage in the years ahead. It wasn’t always this way. When rapeseed was turned into canola many decades ago, few could have guessed how the crop would eventually dominate the Canadian Prairies. Lentils and field peas were small […] Read more
Livestock Price Insurance looks appealing
I’m not a cow-calf producer, but if I was, I’d take a close look at the Livestock Price Insurance Program. With strong cattle prices, LPI is offering the highest floor prices in the program’s history. That means cow-calf producers can lock in a profitable floor price in the fall and early winter for the calves […] Read more
Governments need to cut unnecessary spending
Governments should cut taxes. Governments should increase spending in key priorities such as health care and education. Meanwhile, governments shouldn’t run deficits. While the math says these three are incompatible, government budgets are simultaneously criticized on all three counts. It’s easy picking for whatever party is in opposition. Even if a government has a lucky […] Read more
FCC report shows farmland values still rising
Farm Credit Canada’s Farmland Values Report for 2023 had some surprises as well as some head scratchers. Saskatchewan’s farm income levels have been very strong, but it was still a bit surprising to see the province lead the rest of the nation with a 15.7 percent increase in cultivated farmland values, ahead of Manitoba at […] Read more
