It’s fine to hit malting barley with glyphosate, at least theoretically. But the challenge of doing it in the field in true farming conditions was highlighted by long-time barley researcher John O’Donovan at the Canadian Barley Symposium. “If the farmer does everything right — correct stage, uniform dry-down is achieved — the residue levels will […] Read more
News
War room security measures required to keep PED out
Hog farmers must act like they’re at war when PED arrives in their area. That was the advice of Manitoba Agriculture veterinary specialist Glen Duizer while hosting a meeting via conference call for worried Alberta hog farmers July 19. The sort of biosecurity measures that have been working during “peacetime” conditions should be replaced by […] Read more
Farming, taxes and retirement
Taxation often makes up the largest expense and accounts for the largest loss of wealth in the lives of many farm families, particularly during retirement years, says Donavon Tofin, a tax specialist with Retiring Farmers in Saskatoon. Over a farming career that spans two, three or more decades, farmers defer income into the latter years. […] Read more
Crop futures dip Thursday on improved U.S. weather
Markets again focused on crop-favourable weather in the Midwest on Thursday, and crop futures sagged lower. November canola fell $3.40 or 0.68 percent to $497.60 per tonne. November soybeans fell harder, down 1.74 percent and soybean oil was down 2.25 percent. WEATHER Parts of central Alberta are expected to get rain on Friday which should […] Read more
What does your future look like?
If you’re getting ready to retire, visualize what you want your life to look like — and figure out how much it will cost
To plan for retirement, it’s a good idea to think about what you want your retirement to look like. With a clear picture in mind, you can then set goals and figure out what needs to be done to reach those goals. Tim Eggers, field agricultural economist at Iowa State University, has designed a model […] Read more
Couple make plans for life after farming
Bill and Gale Stonehouse have spent a lot of time lately planning an auction sale. It’s a big step. They’ve been farming since they were teenagers. Bill was 17 and Gale 18 when they married in 1970 and made their home on the Cut Knife, Sask.-area homestead that his grandfather had established in 1912 and […] Read more
U.K.’s first slaughter-free dairy farm gets home
A dairy farm in the United Kingdom where older cows can spend their retirement has moved to a permanent home. The farm called Ahimsa Dairy was previously on rented land in Leicestershire but it is moving to property it recently bought in Rutland. Cows on the Ahimsa farm are not slaughtered; instead, they are allowed […] Read more
Fewer spuds sown in Canada
Canadian potato growers planted slighter fewer acres than they did a year ago, according to Statistics Canada. Nationally, farmers planted 344,884 acres in potatoes, which is down .6 percent from a year ago. It marks the 13th straight year that seeded potato acreage has posted declines nationally. On the Prairies, 64,500 seeded acres were reported […] Read more
U.S. sugar beet growers may have misjudged market: prof
MOOSE JAW, Sask. — Hindsight is 20/20, and American sugar beet growers are wondering if they did the right thing when they switched to genetically modified varieties. Lynn Kennedy, an agricultural economist at Louisiana State University, said beet growers have adopted GM varieties in a dramatic fashion in the last decade. No GM beets were […] Read more
Crop sprayers grounded in Western Canada
Aerial crop sprayers are spending more time on the ground than in the air in Western Canada this season, with hot, dry weather limiting disease pressures and changing the economic threshold for insect applications. “The crops came out of the ground very aggressively and good, but there was a prolonged hot spell without any precipitation […] Read more
