Remember this feeling, it happens every year. It's that edgy, ready-to-go feeling that shows up every year around early April. The later it gets, the more the feeling gets amplified. Then you read stories (sorry) about the guy down the road that hit the perfect window in early April and absolutely nailed it at harvest.... Read More
Category: Crop Production
Louis Dreyfus Canada now owns 100% of its 2,500-tonne per day Yorkton, Sask., canola crush plant. The company has bought out the minority interest from Mitsui & Co. According to a press release sent today, "Louis Dreyfus Canada and Mitsui determined, after a review of the Yorkton investment, that this transaction best served the interests... Read More
What's your technology mix? Phone and a laptop, phone, tablet and a laptop, or desktop, phone and a tablet? Or something else entirely? It's an expensive trial, this getting the right mix of useful gadgets, so certified AgNerds Shaun Haney and Peter Gredig decided to tackle the question. Inspired by Shaun's adoption of the lamely-named... Read More
There are few things more frustrating than not being able to pin down what's eating your canola. Knowing which pests feed when and their tell-tale damage cues is the first step in narrowing down the perpetrator list. Cutworms, a general category that includes several pest species, feed in the early season (late May to June)... Read More
As more Manitoba farmers add soybeans into the crop rotation, it stands to reason that pests that attack the crop will begin showing up as well. Root rots — and there are so very many species that cause this — already exist in prairie soils, but just which species are here and what to do... Read More
We should all steal a page from Pulse Canada’s inventive approach to market expansions. The organization’s new Meal Planning for 9 Billion People video campaign pushes just about every button imaginable. First, the positioning. It sounds elementary, but feeding the world with meals as Pulse Canada suggests rather than simple saying “food” is brilliant. It... Read More
As if a late spring and cold weather weren't bad enough, current planting conditions in some areas of Ontario are ripe for a millipede feeding frenzy. Millipedes prefer cool soil temps and will stay deep in the soil profile, munching away on organic matter, as long as surface soil temps are warm and increasing. But... Read More
Statistics Canada released its first seeding intentions report for March 31, 2013 this morning. Corn, wheat and oats were given the biggest nod to acreage bumps, however, this survey was conducted to April 3 when farmers still expected spring to arrive before May. Corn acres are estimated at 2.3 million for Ontario, an increase of... Read More
It's an unfortunate thing, but farmers in each of the Prairie Provinces must think about clubroot this spring and throughout the growing season. While it's still overwhelmingly most common in the Edmonton area, clubroot spores have been confirmed in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba fields. For those more acquainted with the threat, soil testing is one... Read More
It's been a rough year for many farmers in the U.S., as drought stole yields, entire crops and whole pastures. A return to more normal precipitation patterns over the winter helped in many areas, however, this spring's cold and, yes, even snowy April weather has put the brakes on the spring corn planting season and... Read More