MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – A number of planets need to align for new plant diseases to make their way onto the Prairies: a susceptible plant; an aggressive or virulent pathogen and favourable environmental conditions. Ron Howard, a plant pathologist with Alberta Agriculture, recently told a Reduced Tillage conference in Medicine Hat that this can occur […] Read more
Production
No new plant disease, please
Pneumatic harvester plucks tiny seed
Louisville, Ky. – The lure of lucrative transactions, with native grass species selling for $20 per pound and higher, is enough to make most seed growers take notice. Supply and demand is at work in the native seed niche market. Demand for native species continues to rise because of reclamation activities of pipeline, mining and […] Read more
Big time technology on small farm
Louisville, Ky. – When Montana rancher Lee Arbuckle set out to develop a new method for harvesting native grass seed, he accepted the fact that patience had never been one of his virtues. Arbuckle knew what farmer-inventors go through. He made up his mind that he would not get trapped in the typically prolonged process […] Read more
Hog manure helps forages
A three-year study on forage and pasture land near La Broquerie, Man., found there are more advantages than disadvantages to using hog manure as fertilizer. Beginning in 2004, a team of researchers from the University of Manitoba led by Kim Ominski from the department of animal science looked at the effect on forage yield and […] Read more
MachineryLink in Canada
MachineryLink is expected to announce a combine time-share program for Canadian farmers this week. The new initiative will see about 40 new Class 8 and Class 9 combines available for lease to Canadian prairie farmers beginning with the 2007 harvest. The announcement is expected at an AgriTrend producer workshop on March 15 in Red Deer. […] Read more
Coping with big buck combines
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – North American farmers operate approximately $880 billion worth of equipment, and the combine, with its average price tag of a quarter million dollars, is the most expensive. However, the issue of combine ownership is no longer a big problem for Kansas farmer David Govert. The company he founded owns 250 of them, […] Read more
The impact of big Class 8 and 9 combines
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – North American farmers bought 13,000 combines in 1998. Last year they bought only 8,400. “The drop in combine numbers does not correspond to the drop in farm numbers,” says Jeff Gray of Lexion Claas Omaha Inc. “Combine sales are dropping off at a faster rate than total farm numbers. There’s a number […] Read more
Follow the money when making contracts
SASKATOON – Power dynamics occur between farmers and companies who sign contracts together. Saskatoon lawyer Craig Zawada says farmers who don’t understand those dynamics will go into the relationship with one hand tied behind their backs. Speaking at Pulse Days during Crop Production Week in Saskatoon earlier this year, Zawada said contracts have always existed […] Read more
New bacteria strain upgrades old inoculant
SASKATOON – An old pulse crop product will be upgraded this year, said Garry Hnatowich, senior research agronomist with Philom Bios in Saskatoon. The pea and lentil inoculant Tag Team Next Generation will contain a new strain of nitrogen fixing rhizobia bacteria. “Across both crops, we’re seeing roughly about a 4.5 percent yield increase over […] Read more
Check soil for nutrient stratification
SASKATOON – Nutrient stratification is happening in a field near you, says Elston Solberg, a consultant with Agri-Trend Agrology. “Stratification is a layering of certain soil properties near the soil surface. Reduced tillage and straw retention amplifies these situations, as does manure application and other things,” Solberg said at Agri-Trend’s recent Farm Forum conference in […] Read more
