Reading Time: 3 minutes Two years ago, you couldn’t drive past an equipment dealership without noticing the rows upon rows of machines — carry-over of anticipated demand that never came. “In 2013 and 2014, everybody was firing on all cylinders,” said Leah Olson, president of the Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada. “With our record harvests, there was a fundamental shift […] Read more
Iron backlog gone as equipment makers rightsize
It’s taken a few years, but dealers have finally whittled down inventories
Three young Alta. sisters lost to grain truck mishap
Reading Time: 2 minutes Rocky Mountain House | AFE — A community in central Alberta is in mourning following the deaths of three young sisters in a grain truck mishap on Tuesday night. “This is hitting us all very hard. Frontline responders are routinely called out to sad situations, but things are always harder when there’s children involved,” said […] Read more
Three things to read in your grain contract
Reading Time: 3 minutes Do you read your grain contracts from front to back? If so, you’re one of the few who do. A University of Manitoba study found only 17 per cent of Canadian farmers read their whole grain contracts — and that’s a mistake, says a grain industry expert. “For every grain buyer out there, the terms […] Read more
Only upside to drought? Less spraying and less risk of crop diseases
But diseases like stripe rust, tan spot, or sclerotinia could be an issue if there’s been decent moisture
Reading Time: 4 minutes This summer’s dry growing conditions in Alberta have at least one silver lining — lower levels of disease in fields. “In those areas that have had very little rainfall this summer, you’re probably looking at limited development of diseases,” federal research scientist Kelly Turkington said in a July 6 interview. “Of more concern would simply […] Read more
Alta. biosecurity funding boosted under PED pressure
Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta Farmer Express — As Alberta’s hog industry braces for the seemingly inevitable arrival of porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED), the province has announced an early opening to a program to boost on-farm biosecurity. “Even though we do have some connections with feed now, biosecurity is still our best tool in preventing the spread of PED,” said […] Read more
Record-high snowfalls cause over a dozen barn collapses in central Alta.
Reading Time: 3 minutes The roof on Ken Munro’s machine shed looked fine when he drove past it on his way to work one morning earlier this month. But a text from his son told a different story. “It had collapsed in the middle of the night,” said Munro, an Innisfail-area grain farmer. Since early December, more than a […] Read more
Beef industry leaders urged to unite for common good
Reading Time: 3 minutes The leaders of Canada’s fractured beef sector need to work together and the rest of the industry needs to chip in more dollars for marketing and research, says a new report from a high-level task force. “We need to think as an industry, not just as sector components,” said marketing specialist Kim McConnell, one of […] Read more
Canada’s appeal against COOL gaining U.S. support
Reading Time: 3 minutes Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has one thing to say about country-of-origin labelling (COOL): “It’s not cool.” In the midst of an appeal at the World Trade Organization to quash COOL in the United States, Ritz has been working to gain supporters in the U.S. in an effort to halt non-science-based trade practices that could […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
