Michael Raine

REGINA – Farmers received precise directions at last week’s Western Canada Farm Progress Show in Regina. New Holland emphasized precision when explaining how its big rotary combine, the 9080, handled fragile pulse crops. Seed Hawk and Seed Master mentioned it when talking about the controlled metering on their drills. It was a key message in […] Read more

REGINA – Plastic or stainless steel? The question may be posed to farmers when they buy their pesticides in the near future. At least that is what people at Black Forest Marketing in Greenville, South Carolina, believe. Black Forest produces stainless steel tanks, or kegs, for closed loop systems, such as beer and industrial chemicals. […] Read more

Norbert Beaujot knows how to build a big seeding system. The southern Saskatchewan maker of Seed Master drills has built wide machines for years and last year released a 90 foot design. This week he went a step further with a 600 bushel fertilizer tank. However, these bigger and wider systems come with their own […] Read more

Flea beetles are making more of a pest of themselves than normal this year, thanks to delayed canola germination and cold temperatures. “You’ll always see pockets of damage, where the weather, seeding timing and insect development line up to cause a problem,” said Doug Moisey of the Canola Council of Canada. “This year, those pockets […] Read more

What you don’t put in the ground can add up. Not putting seed and fertilizer in the ground might sound counter-intuitive to many farmers. But for producers already targeting maximum economic yields, the execution of their plan is based largely on what happens at seeding. Dwayne Wolf of Moosomin, Sask., feels the savings from his […] Read more

The AE50 is an award like no other. Engineers working in the field of agriculture determine the best new products or technologies to reach the agricultural marketplace in the past year. This year, a lone Canadian company was selected as producing one of the 50 best innovations in agricultural engineering in North America in 2008. […] Read more

Several errors in a story that ran on page 29 of the April 23 edition of The Western Producer require correction. Incorrect information was provided to us by a source in the story headlined “Location, location, location,” which dealt with seed and fertilizer placement research conducted by corporate agronomist Garry Meier on behalf of Bourgault. […] Read more

Putting a price on manure isn’t easy for buyers or sellers. For the seller, a good price may depend on local competition. For the buyer, the manure needs the right stuff to feed the field, but measuring that in manure isn’t as straightforward as when buying synthetic fertilizer. For buyers and sellers, the manure needs […] Read more

A clean routine continues to be the best defence against clubroot. While the canola disease has yet to be found outside of Alberta, many producers think its spread is only a matter of time. It has been confirmed in counties along the southeastern border with Saskatchewan and is suspected and confirmed one county away from […] Read more

Hendrik Feenstra is the youngest person to pass the American Society of Agronomy’s Certified Crop Advisor exam. The 12-year-old’s father, Jack, said being the youngest CCA was something his son identified as a goal from an early age. “Kids say lots of things, and maybe I promised he could take the test, a couple of […] Read more