Official mammal designation sought | Poor land is being cropped to take advantage of income programs
PELICAN RAPIDS, Minnesota — A hawk hovers high over spring grass blowing in a warm wind while other birds and bugs cry out in an un-planned symphony of nature. Down below, a steady bovine stomping and grunting provides a heavy undertone to this western Minnesota pasture. “I just never get over the beauty of them,” […] Read moreTag Archives Ag Finance
Group eager to see bison on marginal land
Japan entry may ease pressure
Analysts have been speculating that Canada’s cost of entry into Pacific Rim trade talks could be a promise to compromise supply management protections. However, a Quebec trade expert says Canada’s vulnerability really depends on how much Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators want Japan included in the talks. The Pacific powerhouse also wants into the TPP talks, and […] Read more
Levies on top of levies is worrisome trend
We have a confusing hodgepodge of crop checkoffs, and it’s only going to get worse. The CWB monopoly created a handy way to deduct wheat and barley check-off money. It came off producers’ final payments, negating the need for point-of-sale deductions. Point-of-sale deductions will begin after Aug. 1 and the money will ultimately go to […] Read more
Poetry book makes for ideal rainy day read
I flew to Winnipeg last week. My colleagues and I left Tuesday afternoon after yet another thundershower and stared in amazement out the windows at the land. Every pothole, every slough, every dip in every field was brimming with water. Sure, it’s been raining, but holy cow — what a lot of water. While we […] Read more
Fight against Ritz and elimination of wheat board may now draw to a close
From the beginning, supporters of ending the CWB marketing monopoly saw the December Federal Court judgment against the government as a political manifesto rather than legal argument. On June 18, the Federal Court of Appeal was curt in its dismissal of the lower court legal arguments, eviscerating every one of them as incorrect. It veered […] Read more
Fruit technology reduces food waste
A recent article that appeared in The Western Producer (online May 31; print June 7, 2012) featured Ag-West Bio member Okanagan Specialty Fruits, a bioscience company that has developed apple varieties that do not brown. Ag-West Bio wishes to express support for the company and the technology. We believe that OSF has a strong business […] Read more
Farmers take bull by horns with right-to-farm proposal
North Dakota’s biggest farm group has proposed that a right-to-farm clause be added to the state constitution. The move is prompted by worries that animal rights advocates could design state laws on livestock welfare and potentially even make standard production practices a criminal offence. The state’s Farm Bureau is gathering the 26,904 signatures needed to […] Read more
Asking questions can save money
I previously wrote about the need to stop what you’re doing while in a pressure situation so you can review the problem and talk to yourself. When doing this, you might hear yourself say, “did I do that? Why, that has absolutely nothing to do with this problem.” Let’s say a hired person says, “you […] Read more
New BASF tank mix lets growers tackle weeds in fall
No cropping restrictions | Effective on weeds glyphosate can’t control
BASF received approval in May for a new product that is used when there isn’t a crop in the ground. Distinct, which comprises diflufenzopyr and dicamba blended with glyphosate, has been released as a tank mix for chem fallow and post-harvest control of tougher weeds such as dandelion, Canada thistle and narrow-leaved hawks beard, along […] Read moreIf you build it, they may come
Easy plans | Use nesting poles for ferruginous hawks to help control gophers while assisting an endangered species
Ferruginous hawks may fly lazy circles in the blue sky of a prairie day, but they are industrious when it comes to eating Richardson’s ground squirrels. That diet, of up to 500 gophers per nesting pair per season, makes them attractive tenants for farmers and ranchers within the hawks’ native range in southeastern Alberta, southern […] Read more
