DURHAM, NC — Phosphate solubilization products from Novozymes Bioag of Saskatoon will soon be reaching farm fields outside of North American through the Swiss company Syngenta. The JumpStart technology that was born in Alberta and Saskatchewan is spreading worldwide thanks to an agreement between the companies. Penicillium bilaii is a soil fungus that excretes acids […] Read more
Tag Archives Ag Finance
Firms partner to distribute product
Hog herd growing in Canada
There are more signs that the Canadian hog sector is slowly rebounding after downsizing for several years. Canadian hog producers held an estimated 12 million hogs on April 1, up 1.8 percent from the same date in 2011, said Statistics Canada in its quarterly hogs report. The growth was mostly in Western Canada, particularly in […] Read more
Ag Canada cuts four positions at Lethbridge Research Centre
Four positions will be lost at Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre as a result of federal budget cuts. Brian Freeze, research manager at the centre, said the reproductive physiology program will be cut, affecting two scientists. That program studied beef cattle embryos and factors affecting fertility. Also on the chopping block are a library position […] Read more
Red River farmers favour canola, soybeans over specialty crops
Hidden under the bounding joy that Red River Valley farmers feel for canola and soybeans is the jaded tiredness they feel for edible beans and sunflowers. What were once mainstay crops of the valley are now slipping away. “We lost the peas. Now we are losing the sunflowers,” said Roy Legumex trader Gabriel Schujman. This […] Read more
Oats acres decrease as farmers put more durum in rotations
Durum acres will surge this year from 2011 by 27 percent, Statistics Canada says. However, oats acreage will increase only nine percent. If you extract the impact of last year’s flood-ravaged seeding situation, in which millions of acres went unseeded, it shows that farmers are keen to get back to growing durum at usual levels […] Read more
Staff reductions will make food system unsafe: union
The impact of $56 million in federal budget cuts on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and food safety continues to fuel a war of conflicting claims in Ottawa. Last week, Public Service Alliance of Canada union president Bob Kingston said announced cuts will make the Canadian food system less safe, creating a system of “cross […] Read more
Climate of caring may foster better relationships
Q: Things are pretty rough around our house. All three kids can become rude and obnoxious with each other, disobeying our rules and generally defying what we are trying to encourage them to do. We are running out of punishments. The kids have had their cellphones taken away on occasion, have been kicked off our […] Read more
Winter wheat looking good so far
Winter wheat across most of the Prairies appears to have survived a winter with little snow cover and few lengthy periods of severe cold. Autumn Holmes-Saltzman, program specialist with Ducks Unlimited Canada, has spent the last several weeks visiting new winter wheat growers and observing crops. So far, she has seen no sign of stripe […] Read more
Electrostatics make plants eager to accept spray
Opposites attract | When positively charged droplets zero in on leaves, they become negative, allowing droplets to bond
The Spectrum system on Gary Johnson’s helicopter employs the same basic charged particle technology that the spray paint industry has used for decades. The spray droplet is electrically charged, and the target has the opposite charge. The droplet can’t help but be drawn to the target. It doesn’t matter if the target is a car […] Read moreAlta. producers seeking water look to diviner
Diviner for 77 years | Using a forked stick, Perry Rhine can locate water hidden in ground below
Perry Rhine knows he is in a dying career when he has to explain his job title. Rhine is a diviner. The 87-year-old has searched and found water using a stick for 77 years. On this day, his light metal rod starts to bob as he walks across the grass. When it drops down, Rhine […] Read more
