The bleak outlook for other pulse crops means production could double from the 135,000 to 165,000 acre crops of recent years
WINNIPEG — Western Canadian farmers may be set to plant fewer lentil and pea acres this spring, but chickpeas are looking to be one pulse crop that stands out. “Acres are definitely going to increase significantly,” said Colin Young of Midwest Grain in Moose Jaw, Sask. He expected to see a doubling in area from […] Read moreNews
Who’s in the farmer’s corner?
Dispute over value of malting barley leaves Alberta farmer searching for answers; grain commission warns against ‘literal interpretation’ of grain act
Is the Canada Grain Act adequately protecting grain farmers? Are provisions in the act being properly enforced? Those are two questions Alberta barley producer Mike Greeno is asking after a contract dispute with a major Canadian grain company. Greeno, who farms near Lethbridge, delivered a sample of barley to a well-known Canadian elevator company in […] Read more
Ont. farmers reject increase to beef checkoff
A bid to increase the checkoff Ontario beef producers pay to Beef Farmers of Ontario failed to get the 66 percent of votes required for approval. Beef Farmers of Ontario dipped into its reserves to pay a 2017 deficit worth nearly $1 million and had planned to do the same in 2018, expecting that the […] Read more
Flood risk considered to be low in Manitoba
Late winter in Manitoba is normally the time when government officials worry about spring flooding and hold meetings on how many sandbags to order. Not this year. The risk of flooding is low in most of the river basins across southern Manitoba, including the Red River, Assiniboine and Souris rivers. “The combination of drier soil […] Read more
Changing demographics to shift food demand
Ethnicity and stage of life influence food purchases; market diversification and fragmentation are also factors
RED DEER — Aging baby boomers, maturing millennials and more immigrants are changing the Canadian landscape. “The demographics and economic changes we are going to experience in the coming decades are not going to be extensions of what past trends have been,” said Andrew Ramlo, executive director of the market intelligence firm Urban Futures. Demographics […] Read more
Dry prairie summer expected
RED DEER — It could by a hot, dry summer for the Canadian Prairies if long-range forecasts prevail. The current La Nina is dying and an El Nino is forming, said climatologist Art Douglas, professor emeritus at Creighton University in Nebraska. “Going forward in the spring and summer I would look at El Nino coming […] Read more
Soil health can be a difficult term to pin down
Soil fertility is more than just health; it also encompasses yield, climate regulation, water filtration and biodiversity
Soil health is not a scientific term. It conjures imagery of human wellness but the term is imprecise and ambiguous. So says Henry Janzen, well-known Agriculture Canada research scientist in the fields of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur cycling, greenhouse gas emissions and soil carbon sequestration. Soil health is context dependent, he told those participating in […] Read more
Mergers said bad for farmers
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The third of three big mergers in the agriculture seed and chemical business is nearing completion, and that is not good news for farmers, says the head of a network of growers. Reuters is reporting that the European Union is poised to give its approval to Bayer’s takeover of Monsanto before its […] Read more
Alberta’s India trip showing results
The Alberta government and some farmers say their recent trip to India is bearing fruit despite little movement on the tariff issue between both countries. The province announced Feb. 26 that a number of initiatives are in the works since Agriculture Minister Oneil Carlier returned from India. Carlier went to the country in mid-February to […] Read more
Brazil approves Monsanto’s next generation of GM soy seed
SAO PAULO, March 8 (Reuters) – Monsanto Co said on Thursday it received approval from Brazil for its genetically modified soy seed Intacta2 Xtend, a key regulatory milestone in its second most important market. The new seed variety is engineered to resist weed killers dicamba and glyphosate, and can also protect the crop against certain […] Read more
