Crop Management
INDIAN HEAD, Sask. — It wasn’t so long ago that most people heated their homes by burning wood. That fuel could soon return as an important heat source but in a cleaner, more efficient way. A pilot project at the federal Agroforestry Development Centre near Indian Head will use woody biomass, mainly chips from willows, […] Read more
Crop Management
Woody biomass studied for farm heating
Manitoba set to turn manure into electricity
WINNIPEG – A dairy operation near Winkler, Man., could be producing electricity next winter from manure. Manitoba Hydro, the crown corporation that generates and distributes energy in the province, intends to build a biogas digester that will generate 50 kilowatts of electricity and heat from the manure of 200 cows at Sweetridge Farms. The digester, […] Read more
Western Producer Crop Report – for Jul. 21, 2011
MANITOBA SOUTHWEST Unseeded land drying Warm weather in July has dried up soaked fields that went unseeded this spring, allowing producers to spray weeds and plant greenfeed. Canola crops are under stress because of excess moisture in June and too much heat in July. Some canola fields are bolting and haven’t cabbaged out. Winter wheat […] Read more
Annual smartweed
The annual smartweed is a dicot that produces 3,000 seeds per plant and can grow up to a metre tall. Plant densities of 150 per sq. metre can reduce wheat yields by 35 percent and canola yields by 25 percent. Fifteen to 20 plants per sq. metre in canola will reduce yields by five percent. […] Read more
CWB set to explore marketing alternatives
Farmers aren’t likely to be interested in a marketing system that allows them to voluntarily pool their grain, says the chair of the Canadian Wheat Board. The concept was expected to be one of the options considered by wheat board directors as they met this week to look at alternative marketing models. Allen Oberg doesn’t […] Read more
Timing is everything with fungicide
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – The timing of fungicide applications on cereal crops is critical to protecting yield potential, says Saskatchewan’s plant disease specialist. Faye Dokken-Bouchard told producers at the Wheatland Conservation Area field day near Swift Current that they must know at what growth stage a particular crop sets its yield. That in turn determines […] Read more
Rain, heat a perfect recipe for sclerotinia development
LACOMBE, Alta. — Rain, more rain, high humidity and warm days have created ideal conditions for the development of sclerotinia in canola, says Alberta Agriculture oilseed specialist Murray Hartman. High canola prices and a potential for high canola yields means farmers should seriously consider spraying for sclerotinia, especially if sclerotinia stem rot was a problem […] Read more
Guard against possible canola slide
A Canadian grain industry analyst says farmers should brace for a market downturn. Errol Anderson, author of the Pro- Market Wire newsletter, said slumping equity markets are a bad omen for commodity markets and farmers. “If the equity world continues to sag it will unfortunately ripple into the commodity world,” he said. “I think we’ve […] Read more
Bunge optimistic about canola future as it plans expansion
Bunge’s global and North American chief executive officers have no doubts about the long-term golden prospects for canola for their company and for farmers. There had been skepticism a few years ago about Canadian farmers’ ability to produce a crop big enough to fill the new demand from a variety of crusher expansions and the […] Read more
CWB reform may balance U.S.-Canadian prices
North Dakota farm groups think cross-border opportunities for direct farmer sales will be limited after the Canadian Wheat Board loses its marketing monopoly. The forces of arbitrage, where the market takes advantage of price imbalances until they disappear, will cause prices on either side of the border to be similar. They argue that opening the […] Read more
