A program designed to address the labour deficit in Saskatchewan’s agriculture sector will begin this June. The Automation and Digital Agriculture Specialist Program is run by Palette Skills, a national non-profit organization, with support from the University of Saskatchewan. The program is designed to equip people, who already have some post-secondary education, with the skills […] Read more
Crop Management

On the go NIR moisture meter for combines
New Holland was the first manufacturer in the world to offer farmers OEM, near infrared, or NIR, moisture metering and nutrient content in real time, while the crop is still in the combine. NIR sensors on CR and CX combines continuously register a large number of parameters including humidity, protein and starch. This provides the […] Read more

Near infrared moisture monitoring gone portable
Taking NIR from the lab to the field and now to portability put producers in control of their products
Moisture is one of the most significant controllable variables for grain producers. It matters when you’re growing, harvesting, buying, selling, processing, preparing and shipping. Moisture impacts profitability at every stage. The latest grain moisture measuring technology available to farmers is near-infrared, or NIR. NIR offers significant benefits compared to traditional methods such as Karl Fischer […] Read more
Near infrared moisture monitor for forages
Forage analysis is key to optimizing animal nutrition and crop pricing. The latest near infrared, or NIR, technology provides cattle producers with immediate in-field analysis, cutting days off conventional feed-lab turnaround. To preserve optimal rumen function, forages should make up 60 to 75 percent of the diet. Animal well-being and productivity depends on high quality […] Read more

Late seeding may boost canola acres
In April, Statistics Canada predicted that Manitoba farmers would seed 3.3 million acres of canola. That number may jump because of the extremely wet and late spring in the province. Some producers who were planning to seed soybeans and corn may abandon those crops and shift more acres into canola. “Soils have been left saturated […] Read more

No relief seen for high fertilizer prices
Nitrogen fertilizer prices will remain well supported for the rest of this year and beyond, according to a major manufacturer and retailer of the product. Raef Sully, executive vice-president of Nutrien, said global supply of ammonia, urea and UAN are all tight. “I think we’ll see continued solid pricing through the rest of the year […] Read more

Wheat under pressure as U.S. crop conditions improve; soybeans firm
SINGAPORE, May 10 (Reuters) – Chicago wheat futures were little changed on Tuesday with improved ratings of the U.S. winter crop keeping a lid on prices, while soybeans and corn ticked higher. “An improvement in U.S. weather is going to take out the weather risk premium which has been built into the market,” said one […] Read more

Alberta seeding ahead of five-year average
While the rate of spring planting in Alberta is 12.2 percent complete overall, there’s a disparity between the south and the rest of the province. Also, the pace was 2.6 points above the five-year average but 5.2 behind last year. As of May 3, Alberta Agriculture found seeding in the south was at 36.5 percent […] Read more

War exports short with “a long tail”
Some analysts have suggested Ukraine’s grain exports would resume in a hurry if there was a ceasefire. But that is not the assessment of the head of one of the world’s largest grain companies, which has significant assets in the country. Bunge Limited’s chief executive officer Greg Heckman mentioned during a conference call on the […] Read more

Merlo offers electric plug-in version of Roto rotating telehandlers
Merlo recently made its entire range of Roto rotating telehandlers available in electric plug-in versions. With the main goals of reducing emissions, noise and fuel, Merlo has added an electric motor to the Roto range that can control all its movements, except for forward and reverse. Following on from the introduction of the eWorker all-electric […] Read more