From 2013 to 2014, Canada has seen increases in beekeepers, colonies, honey production and value, according to Statistics Canada data. This has the country in a very good position in the industry, says Lee Townsend. Townsend is a commercial beekeeper from Stony Plain, Alberta, and a speaker at the upcoming FarmTech Conference in Edmonton. His... Read More
Category: Tradeshows & Events
In May of 2013 the United States Department of Agriculture notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) of an outbreak of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in a small number of swine herds in the States. By January 2014, the virus had crossed the border, with the first case of PED confirmed on a farm in... Read More
Just because nitrogen fertilizer is placed below the soil surface doesn’t mean it’s going to stay there for plants to use it. In fact, if it’s not buried deep enough, you might be better off broadcasting it on top of the soil, says the senior agronomist for Koch Agronomic Services. Whether for equipment reasons, with... Read More
We’re staring down the barrel of the dreaded New Year’s Resolutions — you know, where you swear off treats, chocolate, booze and anything else fun hoping to whittle a few pounds off the midsection. Of course, if you’re like most people, you probably did the exact same thing last year, to no avail. The reasons... Read More
Increasing nitrogen rates can actually prove detrimental if producers don't also take the time to apply fungicides, says Peter Johnson, cereals specialist with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. That's because the resulting improvements in canopy can actually increase the potential for disease development. Enter the nitrogen/fungicide duo. "That synergy is so significant," says... Read More
Dr. Stephen Koontz, of Colorado State University, is shining a light on a rather complicated, but incredibly important part of how cattle prices are currently set. Markets and marketing evolves over time, and the cattle industry is no different. Koontz says that the strong transition from a negotiated cash trade, to formula and forward pricing... Read More
This year, Farming Smarter brought some very powerful keynote speakers to Medicine Hat for the 2014 Farming Smarter Conference. Speakers included Michael Shermer, the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and the executive director of the Skeptics Society; William W. Wilson, a professor at North Dakota State University; Trish Sahlstrom, vice president of purchasing and distribution... Read More
A combination of a poor malt barley crop this year and a longer-term downward trend in malt barley acres is leading North American maltsters and brewers to import more barley from Europe. An estimated 70 to 80 percent of the barley crop in Western Canada was hit by rain or snow just prior to harvest,... Read More
The day when unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are used for spraying fields in North America could be here sooner than we expect. In fact, for small acres, that day may have already arrived. Several spraying units made by a Swift Current-based RotorSpray attracted plenty of attention at Farm Forum in Saskatoon earlier this month. The... Read More
Bids for peas in Western Canada will likely move higher in the coming months, thanks to lower supplies and strong exports, says an analyst with Mercantile Consulting Venture. Posted prices for yellow peas have recently been in the $6.50 to $7 per bushel range, but as part of this Pulse School episode filmed last week,... Read More