Lyle Minogue from Lacadena, Sask., told the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers annual meeting during Crop Production Week that farmers need to consider every cost to ensure they are maximizing returns on their land and other assets. “It’s funny. You can put on an event to show farmers how to best set their combines and you’ll get […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
Out of the auger, onto the runway
Producers attending Crop Production Week in Saskatoon Jan. 8 were treated to a fashion event. Syngenta sponsored the creation of two designer dresses using pulse crops. Two clothing design students created cocktail dresses using peas, beans, lentils and chickpeas to adorn the cloth garments. Andrea McConnell of Syngenta said the use of pulse crops in […] Read more
Discoveries may ease heat, drought stress
Discovery of a heat stress reduction gene may someday significantly reduce flower abortion in canola. Malcolm Devine of Performance Plants announced the breakthrough Jan. 10 during Western Canadian Crop Production Week in Saskatoon. Performance Plants is based in Kingston, Ont., but also has research facilities in Saskatoon. “We screened thousands of plants looking for those […] Read more
Flax breeder on quest to find frost hardy flax
Paul Dribnenki was looking for short-season flax to satisfy growers in the Peace River district of Alberta and British Columbia. The breeder found what he really wanted was a cold tolerant crop. Dribnenki set out last year to identify the shortest season flax genetics from a group of 40 short-season varieties contained in the federal […] Read more
Analyst sees fairy tale future for flax
Market analyst Larry Weber is high on flax. “I believe flax has the best potential to be the next Cinderella crop in Western Canada,” the Saskatoon commodity analyst told the Saskatchewan Flax Development Commission annual meeting Jan. 7, part of Crop Production Show week in Saskatoon. The analyst forecast prices in the coming year of […] Read more
Spreading risk allows Black Gold to shine
Farming in multiple locations spreads risk and can make people farm better. “We had to improve our management skills and maintain them at a very high level to operate in multiple locations. But that in itself made us better farmers, better stewards of the land,” said Gregg Halverson of Black Gold, a farming operation based […] Read more
Chunky Woodward
To western Canadian shoppers, the Woodward name was synonymous with department stores. To retailers, it was the introduction of the shopping mall to Canada. To Canadian investors, it was a tale of commercial real estate, the effects of 1980s interest rates and Alberta’s oil bust. But to livestock producers, Woodward means cattle and horses. While […] Read more
Henry Wise Wood – Promoter of farmer-owned co-operatives
Henry Wise Wood had many titles: the Missouri man; the Carstairs Bolshevik; the best premier Alberta never had. Whatever he was called, he always stood for successful farming. Wise Wood had known success as a grain farmer in his home state of Missouri, but he also dreamed of cattle ranching. To that end he sold […] Read more
Bill Small – Canadian Western Agribition founding member
The Small family farms 1,800 acres near Craven, Sask., which has been home to William James (Bill) Small since his birth in 1927. He graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1948 with a diploma in agriculture and after returning to the farm, took education and the modernization of agriculture seriously, implementing new technology and […] Read more
Agrium buys U.S. ag supply company
Canadian fertilizer giant Agrium just got a whole lot bigger with a $39 per share offer for all of the outstanding shares of another agriculture supply giant, UAP. The UAP purchase is expected to improve Agrium’s retail links to producers across the United States. It will cost the Canadian company about $2.65 billion. UAP shares […] Read more
