WINNIPEG — Last year at harvest time, farmers across western Manitoba and parts of eastern Saskatchewan had a similar reaction. When they looked at yield monitors in their combines, they were surprised at figures of 60 to 75 bushels an acre for spring wheat, despite lack of sufficient moisture during the growing season. Other stories […] Read more
Tag Archives Special Report
Ottawa’s approach to ag research called ‘narrow-minded’
WINNIPEG — Agriculture Canada is making life hard for the staff and directors of commodity groups across the country, say group administrators. The groups, which represent farmers who grow wheat, canola, barley and other crops, use check-off dollars from growers and spend that money on research to benefit a particular crop. Other stories in this […] Read more
Emissions focus worries ag sector
WINNIPEG — Forcing every federally supported agricultural research project to involve climate change mitigation threatens farmers’ vital interests, leading agriculture industry stakeholders say. “That lens is always ‘how is this going to help reduce emissions,’” noted CropLife Canada president Pierre Petelle in an interview during a farm meeting this winter. Other stories in this Special […] Read more
New focus called gov’t blind spot
Difficulties have been reported finding matching federal funding for research projects that address significant problems in crop production
OTTAWA — The federal government is like a cyclops with a giant blind spot when it comes to research funding, farm organizations, researchers and the agriculture industry have found. Agronomic crop research is a key way to improve agricultural sustainability and reduce carbon emissions but if such research isn’t related to climate change, the government […] Read more
More clarity urged for ag research requests
WINNIPEG — Concerns about tighter funding parameters in agricultural research should prompt farmers to get their requests together because incoherence is undermining research efforts, says the chair of the Agri-Food Innovation Council. “What do we want to get out of agricultural research?” asked Cam Dahl in an interview. “What are the public goods that are […] Read more
Research dilemma: crops or climate?
WINNIPEG — In November 2021, Canada’s agriculture minister and provincial agriculture ministers made an announcement that, at the time, seemed like just one more in the usual stream of announcements. It wasn’t. Other stories in this Special Report: The leaders were in Guelph, Ont., to finalize negotiations for the next federal-provincial funding partnership to support […] Read more
Prairies brace for new fire season
Know the risks
Tinder-dry conditions this spring might have residents of southwestern Saskatchewan a little more on edge than usual. It’s been seven months since the Oct. 17 wildfires that the province’s fire commissioner has described as catastrophic. The area is typically dry, but after a summer with below normal rainfall, it was drier than usual. That evening, […] Read more
A land heals after devastating fire
As the dust devils dance in southeastern Alberta, farmers in the Hilda, Schuler and Acadia Valley areas plant seeds and hope for quick germination and roots that will cling to the soil. They’re planting into land ravaged by an October prairie wildfire that burned more than 25,500 cultivated acres in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Amid flames […] Read more
Army base improves communications after fire
AFTERMATH CFB Suffield was blamed for a fire in Alberta last September that killed 120 cattle and scorched thousands of acres
Tempers were almost as hot as fire last year when residents from the Bindloss, Alta., area met to discuss a Sept. 11-12 prairie fire that spread from Canadian Forces Base Suffield. The blaze burned down one rancher’s home, killed about 120 cattle, burned winter feed supplies and scorched thousands of acres of native grassland and […] Read more
Fires continue to take toll on injured farmers
The scars of Oct. 17, 2017, won’t soon fade for those caught in prairie wildfires that night. The Hargrave family lost 35-year-old James, a rancher and volunteer firefighter with the Walsh, Alta., department, in an accident during the fire near Hilda, Alta. Father and son, Ron and Evan Wedrick of Carmichael, Sask., were severely injured […] Read more
