Reducing runoff | Field test shows tilling every two years reduces phosphorus loss
WINNIPEG — A field study has confirmed what University of Manitoba scientists suspected: periodic tilling significantly reduces the amount of phosphorus that leaves agricultural fields. In a field experiment conducted in southern Manitoba, researchers found that phosphorus loss is reduced by 42 percent when the conservation tillage cycle is broken and the field is tilled […] Read moreNews
Study results encourage tilling
Hot, dry weather in Alberta minimizes disease pressure in alfalfa seed crops
ENCHANT, Alta. — Good news for farmers is bad news for researchers interested in studying the pathogens behind blossom blight and stem rot in alfalfa seed crops. Syama Chatterton, a plant pathology researcher with Agriculture Canada, told the July 23 Alberta Alfalfa Seed Commission tour group that no signs of either disease have been found […] Read more
EU farm payments an omen for Canada?
Reforms to the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy could have reverberations in Canada, says a farm leader. The European Parliament, the EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission recently reached an agreement on setting a new direction for a policy that accounted for 43 percent of the EU’s budget in 2011. “What’s of interest […] Read more
CFIA’s Da Pont moves to health
There will be a changing of the guard at the top of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency as it rushes to develop new food safety regulations due two years from now. CFIA president George Da Pont will be promoted to become deputy health minister, effective Aug. 12. He will be replaced by former provincial deputy […] Read more
Phosphorus not scarce, just use wisely: expert
WINNIPEG — The president of the British Society of Soil Science says it’s time to stop talking about peak phosphorus because the crisis has been overstated and the issue doesn’t resonate with the public. Phil Haygarth, a soil science professor at Britain’s Lancaster University, agreed that phosphorus is a limited resource, but he said the […] Read more
CWB: one year in an open market
Farmers weigh in | Has the transition from a single desk to an open market been good for farmers?
It’s been one year since the western Canadian grain industry took its first steps into the world of open wheat marketing. For some farmers, the transition away from single desk marketing has been a positive step forward. But according to others, those first steps were more akin to stepping off a cliff. Glenn Tait, a […] Read moreWorld in brief
Conservation U.S. Conservation Reserve smallest in 25 years WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) — An American program that pays farmers to idle fragile cropland soon will protect the smallest amount of land in a quarter century, the United States government said. It cited high commodity prices that have encouraged farmers to plant as much as possible. The […] Read more
Maple Leaf Foods loss, sales disappoint
WINNIPEG (Reuters) — Maple Leaf Foods reported a disappointing quarterly loss today, hurt by weak returns on raising pigs. Shares fell 3.6 percent, or 55 cents, to $14.95 in early trading in Toronto. North American hog farmers have been hard pressed to survive losses in the past year because of weak pig prices and at-times […] Read more
Glyphosate resistant kochia suspected in Manitoba
Growers and provincial agriculture specialists suspect that glyphosate resistant kochia has arrived in Manitoba. After applying glyphosate this year, several soybean growers found that the herbicide did not kill kochia plants in their fields. They alerted provincial employees, including Dennis Lange, a Manitoba Agriculture crop production adviser in Altona. Lange, who spoke at a field […] Read more
Auto insurance premiums expected to rise in Alberta
Premiums for automobile insurance can increase by up to five percent in Alberta over the next three years, beginning Nov. 1. The province’s Automobile Insurance Rate Board recently completed an annual review and said in a July 25 news release that it will allow the increase. “We knew that an increase would be necessary, but […] Read more
