The years of no-brainer cropping options appear to have ended, at least for now. The growing season ahead doesn’t offer the certain profits of previous times. Weather and markets are unpredictable, but in recent years you could contract a profitable price on many crops and with correspondingly high crop insurance prices, you could go a […] Read more
Tag Archives Hursh on Ag — page 4
Expect increased volatility with Trump’s return
What should Canadian agriculture expect from a Donald Trump presidency? There’s no shortage of opinions and analysis. Here’s what seems the most plausible. While the transition to Trump won’t officially happen until his inauguration on Jan. 20, many details of his intentions will be telegraphed in advance. As well, the team around him will become […] Read more
Ag should prepare for shifting political winds
This is being written one day ahead of Saskatchewan election results. My prediction, for what it’s worth, is an NDP win. If that’s the case, a lot of farm organizations are going to wish they had taken more opportunities to connect with the NDP while the party was in opposition. A year ago, the NDP […] Read more
Sales pitches on new varieties can be misleading
Harvest is barely complete and marketing campaigns are already underway to sell new and improved seed varieties for next year. Sales pitches naturally tend to emphasize positive varietal traits, while sometimes missing practicality and marketability. Saskatchewan Pulse Growers is promoting new varieties of lentils, field peas, chickpeas and fababeans. In many cases, producers have clung […] Read more
Producers urged to be vigilant when selling grain
A grain broker operating in Western Canada has hit a financial squeeze, and as a result, a number of producers are unpaid for grain deliveries made many months ago. The number of unpaid producers and the amounts owing are not public, but the situation raises a number of questions. When I heard about the issue, […] Read more
Should sustainability approach be carrot or stick?
An extra requirement is coming for the AgriInvest program for 2025. Producers with allowable net sales of $1 million or more per year will require an environmental assessment to receive the matching government contribution. The change in AgriInvest came out of the federal/provincial/territorial agriculture ministers meeting more than two years ago. Little has been heard […] Read more
Injuries, health problems worsen labour shortage
I texted a neighbour at the farm asking if he could help me out. We work back and forth a bit on various projects. “I have a buyer that wants two loads of maple peas next Tuesday, but I’m away next week,” I texted. “If I get the conveyor all set up, could you load […] Read more
Chickpea acres prepare to mount a comeback
With harvest in the home stretch in southern regions, thoughts turn to cropping plans for next year. In the typically drier brown and dark brown soil zones, more chickpeas will be seeded next spring. Chickpeas don’t get a lot of attention because they aren’t a widespread cropping choice. The Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. will only […] Read more
Producer profitability wanes in the grain sector
Each year, every farm has successes and failures and grain prices always fluctuate, but the good times appear to be waning. We each play the hand we’re dealt and spend most of our time looking forward rather than back, but in most cases, profitability has eroded quite dramatically over the past several years. Perhaps some […] Read more
Higher yields offset by lower crop prices this year
You’d think higher yields would mean higher returns per acre. Unfortunately, data for Saskatchewan shows the benefit of this year’s higher crop yields is often negated by lower prices. Using Statistics Canada estimated yields and comparing them to the estimated yields from one year ago, all crops are showing a significant increase. It should be […] Read more
