Michael Raine

Crop quality across Western Canada is judged as high this year. The Canadian Grain Commission’s Jim Stuart said this year’s average yield is made better by the higher than average quality reported in the commission’s annual harvest survey. “Compared with last year, 2003 is a really impressive crop. But it is better in quality than […] Read more

Vaccinations that drastically reduce E. coli 0157:H7 in cattle may be available as soon as next year. It costs North American producers and packers millions of dollars annually to preventing this strain of E. coli from entering the food chain or ground water. A federally funded group of Canadian researchers may have the solution. The […] Read more

FORT QU’APPELLE, Sask. – Norm and Bonny Mitchell are in one of the world’s oldest livestock businesses – raising reindeer. But there is nothing old about their approach. In fact, their business is based on some of the newest research and technology available. Many of these techniques were so new they had to develop them […] Read more

Barley can be made to act more like corn in cattle. Some livestock producers say barley may be a nearly ideal feed if the University of Saskatchewan Crop Development Centre researchers can slow its breakdown in livestock rumens. If the CDC accomplishes this, it will be helping growers improve the domestic cattle feed market and […] Read more

Tight supplies and congested ports are containing container markets for specialty grain. Special crop exporters say that several factors are tightening container supplies. Prices for container shipping have risen slightly, but shipping product in bags remains competitive in comparison to bulk ocean freight, which has seen dramatic price rises over the past few months and […] Read more

Having the right tractor means having the right tires, but choosing the right tires is a complex dance with compromise – power without traction loss, traction without compaction, weight without flotation and efficiency with power. Tires are often an afterthought until they begin to fail in the field. For some farmers, buying replacements may be […] Read more

Improperly inflated tires are a Canadian habit. According to a recent Ipsos Reid poll, 70 percent of cars and light trucks in Canada are touring the nation’s roads with at least one poorly inflated tire, putting the public at risk and wasting fuel. Under or over inflated tires wear unevenly and fail prematurely, resulting in […] Read more

Hard times on the ranch have forced a Saskatoon cattle producer to find a unique market for his animals – Prince Edward Island. With feed in short supply for his 50 Gelb-vieh cows and prices dropping because of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis, Garry Boe found himself in a dilemma. “It felt like a rock […] Read more

Old toys can lead people to a treasure chest of childhood memories. But the right old toys can reap more tangible riches. For the first time, the Toy Roadshow is coming to Canada and is stopping in Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon. George McCurley, who manages the International Toy Collectors Association and co-ordinates the shows, said […] Read more

The normally secure doors to some new halls of innovation were flung open for a day last week at the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization in Saskatoon. For more than a month, re-searchers have been gradually moving into their new digs after being crammed “as many as three to an office, where we got to […] Read more