Older combine operators couldn’t unplug their combines by themselves. The answer? An electric winch
Last year’s harvest was a tough one for the Miller farm west of Acme, Alta. The solution was electric. An early snow had downed crops, and combines struggled to process the crop without plugging. “I recall in 2014 fall there was a point where we had all three machines plugged up at once and we […] Read more
Robin Booker
Stories by Robin Booker
Integrity at risk if information not checked before sharing
Eyewitness reports, images and videos originally posted on social media are regularly used by the mainstream media, but it can be dangerous for journalists to trust information gleaned from social media posts. Last weekend, during the chaos of the Paris terrorist attacks, millions of people turned to news agencies around the world trying to understand […] Read more
Crop planning often overlooks soil moisture
Farmers could make better cropping decisions if they had a more complete picture of fall moisture levels
This year’s growing season provides an example of how crops can use existing soil moisture when growing season precipitation is disappointing. Fertilizer and soil science researcher Tom Jensen said there were decent crops this year in areas that had terrible growing season moisture. “They shouldn’t have had as good of crops as they did, but […] Read more
Horsch un-supersizes air cart for smaller farms
Horsch is offering a smaller version of its 1,000 bushel air cart. “All that has basically changed is we’ve taken one 250 bushel tank off,” company spokesperson Tyler Billay said of the SW 750 cart. “We have the same options on both machines: conveyors, augers, canola tanks, things like that. Just a smaller size.” The […] Read more
Liberal gov’t likely to bring few ag changes
As the Liberal government under the guidance of Justin Trudeau prepares to take control in Ottawa, stakeholders in Canadian agriculture were left wondering what the power transfer will mean for the industry. Keystone Agricultural Producers president Dan Mazier said the Liberals have reached out to build relationships with producer organizations over the past few years […] Read more
No social media smarts? Don’t bother running
If you’ve checked your Twitter or Facebook feeds in the past seven weeks, you’ve been exposed to some of your friends and family’s political beliefs because of the federal election. It’s likely there have been more then a few relationships strained by political discussions spurred by these posts. You may have even wanted to un-follow […] Read more
Women in agriculture connecting through Twitter
My momma, taking off soybeans back on the home in South SK. #womenofharvest15 pic.twitter.com/RwevDTNgnP — Tiffany Martinka (@MartinkaTiffany) October 12, 2015 Farming can be a solitary profession. Even with families and crews working together, much of modern farm work is done alone in a cab for days on end. This is why it’s not surprising […] Read more
Growing good crop starts from soil up
Farmers can’t ignore soil sampling when determining which nutrients are deficient in their field and how much nutrients they need to apply to achieve a target yield. Ken Panchuk with Saskatchewan Agriculture’s crops and irrigation branch says producers can get only a ballpark figure of the nutrient levels in their fields by estimating the nutrients […] Read more
Monitor heat, moisture to curb canola spoilage
Canola can be harvested dry and relatively cool but once it’s in the bin, microbial activity continues and creates moisture
Canola can be tough crop to store. “Just because it’s in the bin doesn’t mean you can stop managing it,” said Joy Agnew, who researches canola storage for PAMI. The key to storing canola is to constantly monitor its temperature and condition and understand what the crop needs to stay sound in the bin. Canola […] Read more
TPP benefits won’t be seen overnight
At the onset of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, most indications are that it will likely help grow Canadian agriculture markets. Coveted Asian markets like Japan will be obligated to provide preferential access for products from TPP signatories like Canada, and we will likely see more beef, pork, grains, oilseeds and pulses shipped into the […] Read more
