The flow of news releases about Father’s Day gifts increased as the day drew closer. (It’s June 21, if you’re wondering.) It can be difficult to find gifts for my formerly farming father, so I read one from sortprice.com. It suggested: Dolce & Gabbana cologne; an espresso machine; running shoes; and an MP3 player. All […] Read more
Opinion
Farming fathers are the best kind – Editorial Notebook
Increased train use worth consideration – The Moral Economy
WHEN THE federal government allowed railways to abandon old lines, it did more than give up on widespread grain transportation by rail. It put a huge burden on provinces by forcing them to pay more for grain shipping through upkeep on heavily used roads, and it gave up on the opportunity to use railways for […] Read more
Letters to the editor
Paraguay and soy; Renewable energy; Farmers gouged; Biotech & yield; Wyeth actions; My CWB Paraguay and soy Having lived and worked in rural Paraguay on and off for some years, I was surprised to find such a rosy picture of the Paraguayan soybean sector in your recent article, “Paraguay takes soybeans by storm” (WP, May […] Read more
Not so worried
There’s lots of chatter about the danger of an early frost hurting prairie crops because they’re so far behind where they should be, but the markets don’t seem very scared. Everything’s been falling. Market commentators in the U.S. took note of the CWB’s assessment of the late prairie crops at its industry crop conditions and […] Read more
Back to old yields
Remember when 34 bushels per acre was average? Well, that’s what the CWB is estimating as the average for this year’s all-wheat prairie crop. That’d be a 20.8 million tonne crop. And it could get lower if the west doesn’t get rain soon. “This is the lowest all-wheat projection … Since 2002,” CWB weather boss […] Read more
15 minutes of fame
Problems on the Canadian prairies took up a good chunk of the DTN weather situation and outlook session I just listened to. We’re famous! But for all the wrong reasons. Too dry. Too wet. Too cold. That combined with U.S. problems with too much rain in the eastern corn belt, too much wet and cold […] Read more
Time to talk about technology access – WP editorial
SHEEP production on the Prairies is one of the brighter spots in the livestock business. Demand is rising and sheep associations are encouraging new producers and larger flocks. With industry development comes the need for modern management tools, among them the use of ultrasound to detect ewe pregnancy and number of lambs expected. The Saskatchewan […] Read more
Rural lens: objectives farther than they may appear – Opinion
HAVEN’T WE heard this before? Last weekend, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff continued his quest for credibility in rural Canada by telling Canadian municipal leaders at their annual meeting that a future Liberal government would consider every policy “through the lens of rural Canada.” Ah yes, the rural lens. When he was junior minister for rural […] Read more
New approach to farm workers – Opinion
Murray is involved in a family farm near Wainwright, Alta., and is chair of the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council’s board of directors. Recent news coverage about the H1N1 flu and migrant farm workers from Mexico exposed more than just the labour shortage that primary agriculture sector is facing. It also revealed the hard sad […] Read more
Wheat seed: diary in the dirt – Editorial Notebook
Day 1, harvest 2008: Went through a combine, into a truck, through an auger and into a bin. What a day! Day 99: In the -30s outside for third consecutive week, but I’m snug against a few million bran-coloured brothers. Hey, buddy, keep your endosperm to yourself! Day 107: Grain beetles are nearby. They have […] Read more
