It’s a complicated world out there, including the one in which Canadian agricultural producers market their products. But are they prepared for the shifting landscape? Because shifting it is. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization recently released a report called Agricultural Outlook 2024-33. One of its […] Read more
Opinion
VIDEO: Ed meets combine
LANGHAM, Sask. ‑ I don’t know anything about combines. I’m not a machinery guy. But I thought that might be a good way to have a bit of fun with the launch of a brand new combine – the Claas Lexion 8900 – which is on display at Ag in Motion. In this video Rick […] Read more
Specificity of biologicals may determine their success
Biological crop inputs are becoming a multibillion-dollar industry. As the financial stakes rise, so does the size of the companies that attempt to grab a piece of the market. However, the sheer size of the players and their geographical footprint has an impact on the effectiveness of these products, and farmers would do well to […] Read more
What are the real grocery store profits?
Two years ago, food price inflation was rampant, with monthly year-over-year increases in excess of 10 per cent. Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index for March indicated the price for a basket of food dropped by $8.42 from the same basket in February. The total basket cost in February was $630.88 and $622.46 in March. This […] Read more
Look back at July 11, 2013, issue
For the next year, this column will mark The Western Producer’s 100th anniversary by taking a deep dive every week into a past issue of the paper. If it’s summer at the Western Producer, readers can be confident that there will be at least one storm story. That was certainly the case in 2013, when […] Read more
Pork trade might suffer collateral damage from EV fight
Canadian pork exports posted a strong first four months, thanks to improved sales to Japan, South Korea, Mexico and the Philippines. Sales to China remain significant, but are down from the same period last year, and the future of the Asian giant’s demand is uncertain because of geopolitical issues related to electric vehicles (EVs). Chinese […] Read more
Letters to the editor – July 11, 2024
Shelterbelts still important Re: Kevin Hursh’s column, Field shelterbelts were never the right solution, Western Producer, page 11, June 26. Well, it’s apparent that Mr. Hursh never had to deal with the dry and wind years of the 1930s, when never-ending dust clouds, grasshoppers, Russian thistles and no rain settled on the Prairies. The settlers […] Read more
Long-range weather forecasts prove unreliable
Why do we do it? Why do we listen to all the long-range weather forecasts over the winter that try to predict what the growing season will be like, when year after year they prove themselves to be largely useless? In 2021, the Prairies had an epic drought and this year has seen an abnormally […] Read more
Take action on mental health
The first part of the busy season is (mostly) in the rear-view mirror, so you may be taking stock of how your operation performed and are planning improvements in the next few months. As you analyze your operation, take time to check in with your team. Long hours in the tractor and late nights calving […] Read more
Europe’s ag uprising seen as warning
European politics are notoriously intricate, and the recent EU elections highlighted a growing fatigue in the West toward urban-centric policies that impact agriculture. Following months of farmer protests across Europe, the Green Party, previously the fourth largest party, lost 19 seats and slipped to sixth position in the EU Parliament. This shift suggests that Europeans […] Read more
