Michael Raine

There was a time when farm security meant a barking dog. Now, locked doors and security systems greet most unexpected guests to farms and ranches. Grain bins, shops and machinery sheds are shackled. No-trespassing signs abound. Yet some of the most valuable property that a farm has remains virtually unguarded: the farm’s digital assets. “Most […] Read more

Durum wheat has potential as a feed grain, say researchers. Shelley Meadows doesn’t often need to sell her durum as anything but seed to other farmers. But when she and husband Kelvin do have a poor weather year and substandard grain, “it has to go someplace and livestock producers always need feed.” Three years ago […] Read more

John Lauder knows all about the devastation that tiny ticks can cause. “Its legs are moving, like it’s trying to ride a bicycle,” the British Columbia rancher says, describing finding a steer on its back. “You know it’s got into a mass of ticks.” Lauder, who raises cattle in B.C.’s Nicola Valley, treats 450 of […] Read more

Bridging the gap between livestock and grain research is the purpose of CLIP. The Crop Livestock Interface Project, funded by the Saskatchewan government, is something new to the University of Saskatchewan and Canada, said Dave Christensen, who manages the project, He said it brings scientists and researchers from across the agricultural community together in an […] Read more

Hank Classen and his associates stumbled onto the fact that durum is a good feed source for poultry and possibly hogs. For the livestock nutrition scientist and University of Saskatchewan professor, the nearly accidental finding highlights the lack of research on breeding feed grain. Low cost and a big supply of poor durum in the […] Read more

LAIRD, Sask. – Jean Zadorozny was making doughnuts before most people were awake on April 22. She needed enough to feed a town hall full of her farming neighbours at a meeting that night. By 8 p.m., 147 of them had filled the wooden laminate stacking chairs in Laird’s old, clapboard-sided town hall. They came […] Read more

There may be sales opportunities hiding in the prairie drought, depending on what farmers seed. Concerned that grain crops might not yield well in the dry conditions, some producers are considering harvesting their cereals as greenfeed. Agronomists say they shouldn’t have to look too far for a ready market. Even if timely rains arrive this […] Read more

Knowing the feed value after harvest is the key to marketing or feeding a greenfeed crop. “Test. Test. Test,” said Don Green of Manitoba Agriculture. “And if you are buying greenfeed or hay of any kind from another area or soil zone, be sure to test for mineral content. The supplement farmers feed now may […] Read more

Farmers should be aware of their choices when picking crop types and varieties for use as annual greenfeed crops, say agronomists. Glenn Barclay, an agronomist with Saskatchewan Agriculture in Biggar, has seen many producers in his drought-damaged region choose to harvest cereals as hay. He said any cereal variety that produces superior grain yields is […] Read more

The village of Dorothy, Alta., never grew beyond 100 residents. Founded in 1895 to serve agricultural pioneers, the hamlet was a popular meeting place for the first half of the 20th century. With less than 10 residents today, the near ghost town is located in the heart of Alberta’s Badlands, about 25 kilometres southeast of […] Read more