Taber corn will make a full appearance at the southern Alberta town’s annual Cornfest Aug. 22-25 despite severe crop damage earlier this month from a hailstorm in the Taber and Barnwell regions. The Aug. 6 storm, with winds of more than 140 kilometres per hour, drove large hailstones that wiped out area crops including the […] Read more
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Must Reads
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Soil moisture sensors piece of cake to install
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A rubber mallet and a smartphone are all the tools needed to install Sensoterra’s line of…
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Planning for weather continues to be farmers’ biggest wild card
OYEN, Alta. — It seems intuitive but weather rules everything on a grain farm. “Of all the things that might…
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Soil work begins with microscopic assessments
OYEN, Alta. — Yamily Zavala gets excited every time she identifies a new life form under her microscope. Squirming nematodes,…
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Increasing nitrogen rates produces diminishing returns
In this second part of our look at nitrogen, we will examine more sources, rates, timing and location of application.…
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Phosphorus alarm bell rung
CARBERRY, Man. — Forty to 50 percent of the time in Western Canada, a canola seed fails to become a…
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Sniffer dogs could root out clubroot
When things are hiding, dogs can sniff them out. People, drugs, even certain types of cancer are evident to dogs…
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Stories from our other publications
Surface spread nutrients precisely in hi-tech mode
If you didn’t make it out to the Ag in Motion outdoor farm show this summer, don’t despair. Here, we examine eight precision applicators that made an appearance in AIM field demonstrations:
LANGHAM, Sask. — Field demonstrations are one of the main features at the Ag in Motion (AIM) outdoor farm show that attract more farmers every year. This year, growers saw eight of the latest precision nutrient spreading machines in action. The key word here is “precision.” Not long ago, you would never have heard the […] Read more
Retain your alfalfa by sparing it a later, second cut in August
This year’s abnormally cool and dry spring has resulted in feed shortages across much of Western Canada. This will result in many producers trying to get a second cut of alfalfa off. To ensure that your alfalfa goes into winter in the best condition, it is recommended that you observe a hiatus from cutting during […] Read more
USDA forecasts bigger-than-expected U.S. corn crop
CHICAGO, Aug. 12, (Reuters) – The U.S. corn harvest will be bigger than previously forecast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday, as the government issued a surprise boost to its yield estimate despite ongoing concerns in the country about a wet spring and dry summer limiting production. For the 2019/20 crop year, the […] Read more
Planning for weather continues to be farmers’ biggest wild card
OYEN, Alta. — It seems intuitive but weather rules everything on a grain farm. “Of all the things that might drive your yield, the weather is going to drive all of it. It is one of the things you can’t control so we plan everything around what you might expect to happen; then we pray […] Read more
Household name eyes ag imaging
Sony’s system uses a drone-mounted multispectral camera with two sensors to help producers create field maps
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Sony is bringing its digital camera and image processing expertise to the agriculture imaging market. The company’s scouting solution uses a drone-mounted multispectral camera with two sensors that capture 12 megapixel RGB, compressed RAW images and two megapixel, near infrared and red channels for NDVI maps. It also has a built-in […] Read more
Soil moisture sensors piece of cake to install
The sensors update information through a LoRaWAN or cellular network, enabling access to data any time farmers want it
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A rubber mallet and a smartphone are all the tools needed to install Sensoterra’s line of soil moisture sensors. “You stick them in the ground, you whack them real hard until they’re snug to the ground, and they are installed,” said Bas van der Velden of Sensoterra at InfoAg in St. […] Read more
Soil work begins with microscopic assessments
Lab research helps farmers understand the life underground as a first step toward improving the health of the soil
OYEN, Alta. — Yamily Zavala gets excited every time she identifies a new life form under her microscope. Squirming nematodes, fungi, bacteria and amoeba indicate there is a circle life in the soil to rebuild structure and help grow healthy plants on the surface. The head of the Chinook Applied Research Association (CARA) Soil Health […] Read moreApp offered as add-on to existing farm management systems
An image analysis service offers a smartphone app that identifies plant diseases, pests and weeds. “We are not a farm management system, we are a value-add, bolt-on to farm management systems,” said Craig Ganssle, founder and chief executive officer of Farmwave. “We do image analysis from disease and pest identification, diagnosis, severity rating, and we […] Read more
Claas aims to raise profile in North America
Company has traditionally sold its equipment under a variety of brands, colours and distribution channels
OMAHA, Neb. — When Claas surveyed North American farmers about brand recognition, the results disappointingly hovered around 10 percent. With its new campaign, “Be Brighter,” the 106-year-old German-based farm equipment manufacturer seeks to improve and brighten those results. Eric Raby, Claas of America president and general manager of sales, has big goals. “Our goal is […] Read more
