Since the early 1960s, pork production in China has risen by about 30-fold. About half the world’s pigs are eaten in that country each year, half a billion in round numbers. As you’ve read here in The Western Producer, small farms in that country, along with many larger ones, are being wiped out by African […] Read more
Stories by Michael Raine
Harnessing sprayers to tame fire
An Alberta farm-invention puts out fire using existing investments, making use of reliable off-road capacity
Self-propelled, high clearance sprayers are great for spraying and have become three-season rigs. As well, in an emergency these could control a serious fire, with the right gear. That’s what Arrowwood, Alta., custom applicator Clark Oberhotlzer figured out. He had seen the damage that fires brought to his southern Alberta and Saskatchewan neighbours in the […] Read moreTrade- friendly environment is in tatters
It wasn’t so long ago that the previous Canadian government was telling us it wouldn’t be needing as many staff around the world to market our agricultural products as freer international trade was maturing. Grain companies said it, too. At the same time producers felt they didn’t need to rely on one another — think […] Read more
We must say more than ‘just trust me’
We hear plenty about how we have to put our farming messages and our actions on display for the world. That is, if we want to renew the social licences to continue our lives in agriculture. Depending on how the number is sliced and diced, we have about three percent of the population of Canada […] Read more
Vegetable harvest gets gathering capacity
A North Dakota company’s big carts make it possible for producers to keep the crop flowing when they need it most
Keeping the crop flowing was the impetus for a big cart solution for softer crops. Big carts for grains and oilseeds took a page from the American Midwest a decade ago, where softer soils, heavier grain and a need for field efficiencies that kept combines rolling no matter how big the crop dominated the scene. […] Read more
This column is labelled GM-free
You’re walking through your local co-op grocery store in that browsing mode you sometimes fall into when you are waiting for the soil temperature to rise enough to go seeding. A smart-looking, brightly coloured label catches your eye on a bottle of orange juice. “This product does not contain strychnine,” it says, below a stylized […] Read more
China about to change global meat sector
I have a great life — and it’s all about food. I get to grow some food, mostly for other folks. I get to write about, and direct editorial traffic around, agriculture and food at one of the best farming publications on the planet. And I get the opportunity to help other farmers grow more […] Read more
Key things that reduce a farm’s risk and potentially insurance premiums
If you are thinking of reducing your insurance costs on the farm, approach it the way an insurer would. Reduce your risk. Farms are filled with many perils. Weather, accidents and theft are all waiting in the wings to take centre stage on any farm. In some cases they might steal the show forever. “What […] Read more
Dome on the range: oblate ellipses efficient
Buildings in the round can deliver lower operating costs and reduce risk to perils from weather and fire
Domes are all backward. The insulation is on the outside, the concrete is inside. The forms stay in place forever. Dome buildings are an example where form is functional. “The look of the dome is different. But so are the benefits,” said Andrew Trapp of Canadian Dome Industries in Saskatoon. Virtually fire and weather proof, […] Read more
Technical trade trip to China planned on canola cuts
Canada is working with China to arrange a technical, trade-diplomacy trip to deal with what latter claims is a quality issue with Canadian canola. Last weekend, Canada offered China a “high-level” team that could deal with technical considerations that might exist related to the quality of Canadian canola exports. The move comes after China suspended […] Read more
