Michael Raine

Western Canadian winter wheat production will rise to about 700,000 acres in 2004 as more producers use it to solve problems related to profitability and workload timing. Markets for the fall-seeded cereal have been expanding along with Canadian Wheat Board initiatives to peddle improved varieties to foreign millers. The varieties have been entering the production […] Read more

British Columbia agriculture minister John van Dongen says despite the best efforts of Canada’s politicians and beef industry, Canadian cattle are unlikely to cross the American border in the coming weeks and there remains only “a small window of opportunity that they will cross before the (U.S. federal election) in November.” Van Dongen told reporters […] Read more

MELFORT, Sask. – Plenty of creatures make a living from farmers’ crops besides farmers. The trick is knowing which ones are there and whether it is cost effective to remove them. “It comes down to crop scouting; not spending money treating when you don’t need to, spending when it saves your crop or increases your […] Read more

SCOTT, Sask. – Shelterbelts are hard enough to plant and water, but controlling the weeds is a chore that makes time-strapped farmers reluctant to start new plantations. New trees compete poorly with other plants for nutrients, water and light. Spraying herbicides is too risky for young trees and tillage too time consuming. There is a […] Read more

What does an animal suffering from BSE look like? The neurological disorder shows up as a poor gait, apprehensive behaviour, panic, kicking, muscle ticks, repeated movements and seizures. But these signs of bovine spongiform encephalopathy are also common to many other brain diseases, said the head of pathology at Canada’s National BSE Reference Laboratory. From […] Read more

SCOTT, Sask. – Early to plant, later to harvest. These are techniques that are providing the best canola seed to growers the following year. Seedling vigour refers to the early season strengths that create robust, pest-resistant plants and bring higher yields. Based on early results from field trials, canola seedling vigour is aff-ected by production […] Read more

SCOTT, Sask. – The Canadian Wheat Board intends to increase malting barley selections by one million tonnes over the next few seasons and producers need to improve their production practices to meet this demand. Only 25 percent of the malting barley that is planted meets the quality demands of maltsters and brewers and is selected […] Read more

LETHBRIDGE – What happened to the grasshoppers? A plague of hoppers was set to rise from the earth this spring. Last fall, near-record numbers of grasshopper eggs were counted from Winnipeg to the British Columbia Peace country. “This is the greatest, most precipitous drop in grasshopper populations in my 21 years (of research),” said Dan […] Read more

TABER, Alta. – Vegetable producers in southern Alberta have found the wet, late spring to be both help and hindrance. Producers there are dependent on irrigation. Early in the season, limits of 250 millimetres of water were placed on producers in the St. Mary Reservoir Irrigation District. Seasonal rains have allowed an increase to 330 […] Read more

Enviro Test Laboratories has consolidated all of its plant, soil, feed, agricultural water, manure, fertilizer and grain testing in Saskatoon. The company previously operated labs in Winnipeg and Calgary. The Saskatoon facility will house 20 full-time staff and as many as 60 in the fall and spring. “We hope it will be more efficient and […] Read more