Forages have a place on larger farms but farmers need more information and new management systems to get the most out of them . Ken Wall, a professional agrologist with Federated Co-operatives Ltd., spoke recently at the Canadian Forage and Grasslands Association annual meeting in Harrison Hot Springs, B.C. He said there is a hunger […] Read more
News
CFGA founder elected to Canadian hall of fame
Ray Robertson, credited with the founding of the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association in 2010, was inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2022. Robertson is the general manager of the Ontario Forage Council. He also was CFGA’s Leadership Award winner in 2022. Robertson said he recognized the need for sharing information across […] Read more
Costs rise for FCL ag complex
REGINA — The CEO of Federated Co-operatives Ltd. said front-end engineering and design continues on its planned Regina integrated agriculture complex even as costs escalate. Heather Ryan said inflation is a concern. Although she wouldn’t say how much beyond the initial $2-billion price tag the cost has gone, she did say it isn’t far off […] Read more
China wants good wheat
CHICAGO (Reuters) — China booked its largest purchase of United States wheat since at least 2020, buying 440,000 tonnes of the grain, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed. The sale comes after China’s 2023 wheat crop suffered quality issues after heavy rain hit key growing areas just ahead of the harvest, analysts said. The […] Read more
Forecasting 101: the short game
I recently tried to explain how I create a forecast so you can do it too. Here is the Coles notes version: Make sure you have a solid basic understanding of the weather; in particular, highs, lows, pressure patterns and how the atmosphere flows at various heights. A good visualization tool can be found at: […] Read more
Decent yields in dry times
It might not be the drought many western Canadian growers recall when thinking back to the 2023 crop, but the canola yields they harvested despite it. There’s no question that conditions through the growing season were hard on yields, but one of the more perplexing things for me as we put together our first canola […] Read more
Canola views – photo essay
Photos submitted via X. Other stories in the 2023 Canola Yearbook: Decent yields in dry times Canola growing season in review Spraying in dry times can be tricky Flying the fields Hormone imbalance suspected for malformed racemes Incorporating resistant traits weighs on yields Production briefs Pest roundup: Canola pests kept in check by dry conditions […] Read more
Canola growing season in review
The main concern going into the 2023 canola growing season was extremely low soil moisture levels. Dry conditions during the 2022 growing season depleted soil moisture reserves across most of Western Canada. The moisture deficits were most acute in Saskatchewan and Alberta, which were rated as very dry and contained nearly zero moisture below six […] Read more
Spraying in dry times can be tricky
Heat waves and dry weather added to the headaches faced by canola producers during spraying season. “The main concern with the heat is just the evaporation of water from the droplets, and that causes two main problems,” said Tom Wolf, owner of Agrimetrics Research and Training based in Saskatoon. Other stories in the 2023 Canola […] Read more
Flying the fields
Researchers are increasingly augmenting the time-honoured practice of walking the fields to check for pest and disease pressure, germination or performance with eyes in the sky such as orbital satellites, drone-mounted cameras and combinations of both. For example, free online tools such as the SKSIS Mapper developed through the University of Saskatchewan’s soil science department […] Read more
