You may have seen an article or two about how September shattered the record for warmest month, after the warmest August on record. It looks like 2023 will be the hottest year on record for the planet. Let’s dig a bit deeper. I am using data provided by the Copernicus Earth Observation Programme and Copernicus […] Read more
News
AG Notes
Year-round blueberry production funded Researchers at Kwantlen Polytechnic University who are studying how to sustainably grow berries out of season in Canada recently received a $1 million contribution from the Weston Family Foundation. A proposal from the Institute for Sustainable Horticulture at the university has advanced to the Shepherd Phase of the Homegrown Innovation Challenge. […] Read more
Canadian canola joins regenerative ag program
The rubber is finally hitting the road for farmers wanting to get paid for their conservation practices, says an industry executive. “There is now a market force here that’s driving a bunch of different programs to get off the ground,” said Kurt Alles, head of sustainable business at Farmers Business Network (FBN). The company is […] Read more
VIDEO: Kostyshyn back as Man. ag minister
UPDATED – October 26, 2023 at 1100 CST – Manitoba Agriculture is back under old management. Ron Kostyshyn, the final agriculture minister of the previous NDP government, has been appointed to the portfolio by Premier Wab Kinew. The Dauphin MLA is a farmer and has been a municipal reeve in recent years. Other ministers of […] Read more
Where are the crop scientists?
The Manitoba Crop Alliance represents farmers who grow wheat, barley, corn, sunflowers and flax in the province. But the organization has a problem. As part of its mandate, the alliance invests check-off dollars into research projects to help Manitoba farmers become more productive and sustainable. Fulfilling that mandate is not easy because the group can’t […] Read more
American producers grow fewer beans
Bean production in the United States is down 13 percent compared to last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Growers produced 1.02 million tonnes of all classes of beans. Acreage was down 5.3 percent, while average yield fell 7.1 percent. Pinto bean production is 401,370 tonnes, an 18 percent drop from last year. […] Read more
China, Indonesia to remain top wheat buyers
Canada’s top two wheat customers are expected to be major buyers again in 2023-24. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting China will import 11 million tonnes of the commodity from all suppliers. That would be a drop from last year’s massive 13.28 million tonne program but well above the five-year average of 6.5. million […] Read more
Wheat in the fast lane
Canada’s canola industry reached a milestone in the fall of 2005. From 1990 until 2004, canola yields across the Prairies were stuck in a range of 23 to 27 bushels per acre. Some producers were recording yields much higher than 25 bu. per acre, but the average yield in Canada was stagnant. Finally, in 2005, […] Read more
Germany’s free-roaming bison may be culled
ESSEN, Germany (Reuters) — Mediators in a long-standing dispute over Germany’s only free-roaming herd of European bison have recommended reducing the size of the herd. The dispute over the bison, also known as wisents, has pitted the forestry industry against environmentalists and conservationists. The herd roams in the Westphalia region of central Germany. A round […] Read more
Ranchers feel the heat as water supplies dwindle
Cattle producers forced to haul water since early in the summer as lack of rain dries up dugouts across the province
The drought in Alberta has caused multiple rural municipalities to declare agricultural disasters, urban communities to issue water restrictions and warnings from the province about tough times for next season if present conditions continue. That warning includes irrigation districts that got through the 2023 season by tapping into its robust reservoir system built over the […] Read more
