University of Regina researcher says embedding wetland policy within an agricultural drainage framework is backwards
REGINA — Critics of a proposed wetland stewardship policy in Saskatchewan say it fails to properly address the issue. Academics who sat in on consultations about the plan said it focuses more on agricultural development than retaining wetlands and habitat, and they don’t believe the Water Security Agency’s data that says 86 percent of Saskatchewan […] Read moreWP100 Research
Variety use agreements prompt spirited debate
At the Jan. 9 annual meeting of Saskatchewan Pulse Growers, a resolution on variety use agreements, sometimes referred to as trailing royalties, received a great deal of debate culminating in a very close vote. While all the crop commissions do commendable work, SPG was the first checkoff established in the province, and the organization has […] Read more
Pulse growers want trailing royalty decision re-opened
Debate becomes heated as farmers question funding agreement with Limagrain that includes variety use agreements
SASKATOON — A resolution that would have undermined Saskatchewan Pulse Growers’ new breeding agreement with Limagrain was narrowly defeated at the organization’s annual general meeting. It called for pulse varieties funded by SaskPulse levy payers to have no variety use agreements (VUAs). The resolution submitted by the National Farmers Union received a 47 percent yes […] Read more
Big futures trades harder in all-electronic world
Report concludes all-electronic trading has not affected the cost per trade, although pit trading did add an option value
WINNIPEG — Who were the winners and losers when Chicago shut its live trading floors for livestock futures and sent everything to the electronic world? That’s a question two economists at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have attempted to answer in a new article in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Large futures users, […] Read more
Convert your truck into a hybrid
B.C.-based Edison Motors pioneers the retrofit market with its diesel-electric conversion kits for vocational trucks
There’s an old saying that everything old is new again. When it comes to automotive and machinery design, that seems to be true in spades. Diesel-electric equipment has been in use for decades, but until recently, that system had fallen out of favour with many equipment manufacturers, including heavy truck builders. “It’s weird,” said Chace […] Read more
Equipment manufacturers adjust to battered supply chain
About a decade ago I was with a group of journalists touring a new ag equipment manufacturing plant in Germany. As we made our way past a stockpile of raw steel, our guide pointed out that the storage area of that new building was only a fraction of the size of the one it replaced […] Read more
VIDEO: Alta. plans for water shortages
UPDATED – Video added to story January 16, 2024 – 1515 CST – MEDICINE HAT — An early January snowfall across the Prairies brought slight relief to dry conditions following one of the warmest, driest Decembers on record in Alberta and Saskatchewan, but drought concerns remain. Alberta is moving into high gear to co-ordinate agricultural, […] Read more
Canola, cereal crops slow waterhemp’s spread west
CLANDEBOYE, Man. — Soybeans and waterhemp go together in Manitoba like peanut butter and jelly. Find a field of soybeans and you may find waterhemp. “That’s almost always where we find it,” said Kim Brown, provincial weed specialist with Manitoba Agriculture. Tall waterhemp is a Tier 1 noxious weed in the province, which means it […] Read more
‘Just stupidity’: rural thief allowed to walk away in Alta.
Rural residents encouraged to take precautions, but challenges still exist when trying to bring perpetrators to justice
MEDICINE HAT — New Year’s Day 2023 isn’t a day Redwater, Alta., resident Brad Gulka will soon forget. That’s the day he watched via remote video camera as thieves broke into his home with a large pry bar and walked out with his possessions. The video, shared with The Western Producer, shows four people as […] Read more
Breeding malting barley varieties a tricky business
Giant North American brewers and maltsters want one thing, while micro-brewers and micro-maltsters often want something else
WINNIPEG — Farmers can be frustrated by how few new varieties of malting barley are available for them to use in the real world. Brewers and maltsters can be cautious about changing anything that goes into their production systems. New varieties spell risk and danger to them. These two sides define an industry that requires […] Read more
