Michael Raine

Worldwide Polish rapeseed research continues in only one place – Saskatoon. Stewart Brandt, a canola breeder from Bayer Cropscience in Saskatoon who attended a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, earlier this month, said he was surprised to find that breeding research for brassica rapa, Polish canola, has all but stopped across the globe. “There is almost […] Read more

A canola pest called the cabbage seedpod weevil is developing pests of its own. More than a dozen species of tiny, weevil larvae-eating wasps are shifting their tastes from other insect hosts to this voracious crop-eating weevil. The Necremnus duplicatus strain represents a third of this family of cabbage seedpod weevils, with Trichomalus perfectus not […] Read more

Tenderness is the most important factor in the consumer’s mind when it comes to buying meat. Anyone who questions this need only look at the price difference between top round and strip loin steak, said a United States Department of Agriculture meat researcher. Mohammed Koohmaraie’s job is to find out what makes meat tender and […] Read more

Researchers at Vegreville, Alta., will soon take growth-promoting bacteria out of the laboratory and into the wheat field. Inoculating legume crops with a root-colonizing bacteria, or rhizobacteria, is a proven method to increase yields, as well as fix nitrogen into the soil from the air. Some of the same types of bacteria that cause legumes […] Read more

REGINA – Case New Holland is painting all of its Flexicoil and planter equipment in the same New Holland blue. Mergers and acquisitions over recent years have narrowed the number of owners in the world’s agricultural implement market. What were once the brands and colours of Braud, Case, Claeys, Fiat, Flexicoil, Ford, International Harvester, New […] Read more

REGINA – Allen Rider is unapologetic about the direction of his company to build larger machinery for big farms. Rider is the North American president for agricultural business at New Holland and was in Regina recently for the Western Canada Farm Progress Show. He said some farmers, dealers and members of the public “may not […] Read more

MOOSE JAW, Sask. – Beef prices fell across the Prairies on June 21 to help increase awareness of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis and raise money for charity. In Moose Jaw, Sask., local trucking companies, XL Foods, IBP’ s Lakeside Packers and others organized a $1 per pound ground beef sale that attracted more than […] Read more

REGINA – It may be debatable whether bigger is better when it comes to farm equipment, but there’s no question about who has the biggest air seeding cart. Bourgault Industries of St. Brieux, Sask., pulled the tarp back on a monster-sized air cart at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show which ran in Regina from […] Read more

Cattle transportation is more complex than loading them up and moving them out. Feedlot cattle spend more than 65 million hours in transport annually in Canada. During those trailer-bound hours the average animal shrinks 1.7 percent, or 8.5 kilograms, during journeys of four hours or less. That shrink increases to 4.6 percent, or 23 kg, […] Read more

REGINA – Trucks may be the one piece of farm equipment whose praises remain undersung. Considering the responsibility these machines have in transporting the crop, often in the most extreme weather, their evolution hasn’t been as prominent as the tractor or combine. Farm trucks were introduced around 1920 to replace horses. Fuel distribution was expanding […] Read more