WINNIPEG — It’s been a few years in the making, but the Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission is now officially part of SaskWheat. The merger of SaskWheat with Saskatchewan Winter Cereals was finalized at the SaskWheat annual general meeting, held Jan. 9 in Saskatoon. SaskWheat will assume responsibility for managing producer levies collected from growers […] Read more
News
New Sask. university program to offer irrigation training
MEDICINE HAT — As plans for irrigation expansion continue in Saskatchewan and Alberta, the University of Saskatchewan is offering a new program to help agricultural professionals enhance their training in the burgeoning field. Joel Ens, the university’s Sustainable Irrigation program lead, said the courses are best suited for those in the agricultural industry looking to […] Read more
New research strategy developed for root rot
Sask. gov’t, farm groups kick in $4.2 million to tackle aphanomyces and other diseases that threaten pea and lentil crops
A $4.2 million investment in root rot research is a “big deal” for farmers and Canada’s pulse industry, says a University of Saskatchewan scientist. Saskatchewan agriculture minister David Marit announced $2.5 million in provincial and federal funding last week to find solutions for root rot in peas and lentils. Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, the Western Grains […] Read more
Low-moisture canola problem linked to straight cutting
SASKATOON — Canola growers in southern Saskatchewan want to know how much money is lost due to the low moisture content of their crops. Mark Alexander, a grower from Weyburn, Sask., recently asked the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission (SaskCanola) to conduct a study on the issue, which has become a thorn in the side of […] Read more
Pulse growers want trailing royalty decision re-opened
Debate becomes heated as farmers question funding agreement with Limagrain that includes variety use agreements
SASKATOON — A resolution that would have undermined Saskatchewan Pulse Growers’ new breeding agreement with Limagrain was narrowly defeated at the organization’s annual general meeting. It called for pulse varieties funded by SaskPulse levy payers to have no variety use agreements (VUAs). The resolution submitted by the National Farmers Union received a 47 percent yes […] Read more
Big futures trades harder in all-electronic world
Report concludes all-electronic trading has not affected the cost per trade, although pit trading did add an option value
WINNIPEG — Who were the winners and losers when Chicago shut its live trading floors for livestock futures and sent everything to the electronic world? That’s a question two economists at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have attempted to answer in a new article in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Large futures users, […] Read more
Ag productivity growth may not be predictable
WINNIPEG — Many economists fear that agricultural productivity has slumped into a long-term trend of disappointingly slow growth, while others think recent weather shocks have temporarily disguised a better growth trend that will reappear once better growing conditions return. Still others warn that decades of reduced agricultural research growth will continue for years unless funding […] Read more
Researchers push the prairie crop comfort zone
Rice in Manitoba was a disaster. In 2012, in the Banana Belt region of the province near Melita, the staff at the Westman Agricultural Diversification Organization (WADO) seeded a plot of dry rice to see if they could bring it to harvest. The project fit with their role in Manitoba’s agricultural sphere: risk the wreck […] Read more
Sanctions pressure Russian producers
The Russian agricultural sector is experiencing tough times as sanctions and the country’s ever-growing isolation in the international arena exert serious pressure. Before Feb. 24, 2022, the agricultural sector was among the most developed segments of Russian industrial production, with annual growth rates of more than 10 percent. The start of the Russian-Ukrainian war put […] Read more
Fertilizer may decrease soil seed bank diversity
Researchers say they have found soil seed banks cannot rescue plant diversity that has been affected by fertilizer use
New research from the University of Oulu in Finland suggests nutrient enrichment of soil seed banks can weaken underground diversity and lower the potential for plants to rely on natural ecosystems. “From previous research, we know that nutrient enrichment leads to plant diversity loss in above-ground plant communities,” said Anu Eskelinen, of the university’s ecology […] Read more
