Michael Raine

Puffed and primped, the male stomps his strutting ground with pride. After all, he is Canada’s latest endangered species. The prairie sage grouse, which was declared an endangered species last week, has dropped to an all-time population low of 500 birds in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Declines from a once stable population of about 4,300 birds […] Read more

ConAgra Inc., a multi-billion-dollar multinational, can’t get credit in a small town co-op. Failure to pay outstanding bills in small towns and cities near the largest of the company’s three new Saskatchewan grain handling facilities has left the grain giant an unwelcome debtor in several rural Saskatchewan businesses. In Wilcox, Sask., a small farmer-owned co-operative […] Read more

Protein premiums help hard red spring wheat producers to make a profit. But for many growers, those last few protein points may cost more than they’re worth. Those considering the market and its protein premiums will have to spend money to make money, agronomists say. Even then it’s a gamble, and farmers should consider their […] Read more

The tale of the perfect crop always begins with a moist but not wet seedbed, followed by a dry period for the next 30 days. Then the rain begins to fall for a week. It stops and no more moisture is necessary to take off a bumper crop. The plants are short but thick. The […] Read more

MAPLE CREEK, Sask. – One of the Prairies’ oldest grain elevators is set for demolition this spring. Built in 1908 by the Alberta Pacific grain company during a wheat boom, the elevator has passed through several hands and two locations over the 90 years it has served the southwestern Saskatchewan community of Maple Creek. Following […] Read more

Buying new and new-to-you farm equipment is a big decision that affects the profitability and sometimes the future of a farm business. Farm equipment manufacturers are probably not the first contacts producers use when making equipment purchase decisions. But John Deere is ready when they are. In Deere and Company’s Farm Business Management series, readers […] Read more

New money is available for an old problem. The Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute will receive $122,000 for two new manure management projects – a technique to inject manure into alfalfa crops, and straw chopping technology that will allow manure to be pumped via pipeline from lagoon to field. Saskatchewan agriculture minister Eric Upshall announced the […] Read more

FLORAL, Sask. – The smile on John Patience’s face told the story as well as his words. Hog research in Saskatchewan is expanding and as the president of Prairie Swine Centre it was his job to give the good news. Patience told reporters and swine centre board members about a new 600-sow facility that will […] Read more

Veterinarian Mel Hoffer knows that being on call during the spring calving season means there will be plenty of calls from cattle producers. He operates a veterinary clinic in the southwestern Saskatchewan community of Maple Creek, Sask., and was assisted on this day by fellow veterinarian Lawrence Heinrich. When Hoffer began practicing in the early1970s, […] Read more

PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – Focus for the Hudson Bay Route Association has shifted. While the group intends to continue to press politicians and railway executives to keep the port of Churchill moving western grain to market, it has leveled its sights on a new target: rail-line abandonment. “If we allow the railways to keep taking […] Read more