Michael Raine

The fast pace of change in agricultural science can bring out charlatans looking to take advantage of farmers, say agronomists. Ross McKenzie of Alberta Agriculture says farmers have had to become more reliant on chemical and seed companies and equipment manufacturers “to grow their daily bread.” As a result, producers can also fall prey to […] Read more

War and poor crops have cut jobs and production for a prairie manufacturing company dependent on American trade. Doepker Industries of Annaheim, Sask., laid off a third of its 360 staff this spring. Many of the remaining 225 have agreed to job sharing to prevent deeper cuts. Company president Dave Doepker said the war in […] Read more

Feeding deer can be difficult at the best of times, but feeding them during a drought poses daunting challenges. Murray Feist of Saskatchewan Agriculture said the drought has made the “somewhat tricky” business of feeding deer “pretty complicated” as producers look for feed alternatives and ways to control costs. Unlike cattle, which have been bred […] Read more

Deer producers and hunt farm owners are often at odds over the economics of bucks. Dave Nowlin buys white-tailed bucks from deer farmers for his hunt farms. Despite complaints from deer producers, who say they deserve a larger share of the pie, Nowlin said the fees he charges people who come to his hunting compound […] Read more

Saskatchewan milk producers raised $22,750 March 13 to assist the Canadian Food Grains Bank with hunger projects in Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique. At a regularly scheduled R and F dairy cow sale at the Saskatoon Auction Mart, 20 lots of dairy calves, open and bred cows and a steer were donated and sold for the […] Read more

A Saskatoon lawyer experienced in agriculture, intellectual property and biotechnology law said producers might have a right to sue for the damages caused by genetically modified wheat if it is released into the marketplace. Craig Zawada said producers who don’t wish to grow GM wheat might be able to sue if GM wheat seeded by […] Read more

A spokesperson for a group that represents pesticide and biotechnology companies, said organic farmers’ rights shouldn’t interfere with the rights of other growers who might want to use genetically modified wheat when it becomes commercially available. “If Europe has zero tolerance for GM content, then Canadian farmers don’t sell to Europe,” said Denise Dewar of […] Read more

Randy Morris is betting that a lot of farmers liked their old Massey Ferguson model 35 tractors. The Redvers, Sask., farm equipment dealer is the Canadian distributor for TAFE tractors. Tractors and Agricultural Farm Equipment of Chennai, India, still produces what is, for all purposes, the small horsepower Massey tractors of the 1960s. While the […] Read more

The war in Iraq and the Canadian opposition to it are affecting Saskatchewan hunt farms. “Bookings are way down,” said Dave Nowlin of Northsask Frontier Adventures Game Hunting Preserve of Love, Sask. “The war and our perceived lack of support is hurting relations with American customers. The war for sure hurts us.” Nowlin provides hunting […] Read more

For three years before the 2001 growing season, trials of genetically modified wheat were done with a buffer zone only 10 percent of what is now recommended. The trials at seven of Agriculture Canada’s research farms in Western Canada used a three metre gap between the GM crops and other test plots. The buffer now […] Read more