Grower uses unique method to make hard-to-root plants perform and sells 40,000 rooted cuttings annually
LANGHAM, Sask. — Farming puts food on the table for Jarvis Blushke but it is his side business that feeds his soul. “Jarvis has always had a passion for saskatoons since he was a boy with his mother,” said his wife, Emily. “Some people go skiing and some people go to the cabin every week […] Read more
Sean Pratt
Stories by Sean Pratt
Huge Australian lentil crop could see prices weaken
Pulse crop analysts believe red lentil prices could fall in the second half of 2016-17. The biggest immediate threat is the unusually large Australian lentil harvest making its way to markets in Asia and the Middle East. The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) estimates farmers harvested 450,000 tonnes of lentils, […] Read more
Weather outlook unpredictable
Drew Lerner’s 2017 weather forecast for Western Canada came with a larger-than-usual caveat. “This is the absolute worst time for me to come up and speak to you guys because everything is in flux,” the president of World Weather Inc. told delegates attending CropSphere, an event held Jan. 9-11 in Saskatoon. There is no El […] Read more
New canola has exciting aquaculture possibilities
BASF and Cargill have developed what’s being called a “groundbreaking” canola, which they believe could expand demand the way high oleic canola did for the in-dustry. The oil produced from their EPA/DHA canola will be used as a re-placement for fish oil in aquaculture diets. “What this does is really create a new market opportunity, […] Read more
Sask Ag invests $7.7 million in crop research
Saskatchewan Agriculture has announced $7.7 million in funding for 46 crop-related research projects. The announcement was made by Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart during a luncheon at the sold-out CropSphere show in Saskatoon. “We won’t know the results of these projects tomorrow but make no mistake, the work will have an impact,” he said. The projects […] Read more
EU could boost flax price
Lower maximum residue limits have slowed Black Sea region exports, opening the door for Canadian grain
The tweaking of a maximum residue limit is creating an opportunity for Canadian flax in Europe. The European Commission tightened its tolerance level for haloxyfop last summer to .01 parts per million from .1 parts per million. Haloxyfop is a Dow grass herbicide that is used extensively on flax crops in Russia and Kazakhstan but […] Read moreFarm groups challenge food company’s non-GM pledge
Yogurt maker Dannon is misleading the public by suggesting non-GM crops are more sustainable than GM crops, say opponents
Farmers and food companies have dropped the gloves in the de-bate over genetically modified food. A number of food companies have recently announced they are introducing non-GM product lines. That is making growers antsy because many rely on biotechnology to keep weeds and insects at bay. The line in the sand for farm groups was […] Read moreCanola crush, exports on target
Canada’s canola processors should have no problem meeting Agriculture Canada’s domestic crush estimate for 2016-17. “It wouldn’t be surprising to see us reach nine million tonnes of crush in 2016-17,” said Chris Vervaet, executive director of the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association. COPA members had crushed 3.43 million tonnes as of Dec. 14, which is 419,000 […] Read more
Start your day with … a bowl of crickets?
Jarrod Goldin is president of what he believes is the world’s largest livestock ranch, but there should be an asterisk attached to that claim. “As far as livestock head count is concerned, I think we may be the biggest farm in the world because we have 110 million head of crickets,” he said. Goldin formed […] Read more
China’s economic slump raises fear
CHICAGO, Ill. — The deceleration of China’s economy is raising alarm bells in agriculture circles. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 6.8 percent in 2016 and 6.4 percent next year. That is the envy of many countries around the world but it is well below the double-digit growth China experienced during […] Read more
