Reading Time: 3 minutes Using statistics from the provincial crop insurance corporations, the Canadian Grain Commission has released its annual summary of the most-insured cereal varieties for the previous growing season. In most cases, we’re listing only the top 10 reported varieties — for a full list visit the CGC website. Wheat Prairie-wide, Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) remains […] Read more
Which crops were hot in 2020, and what was not
Annual summary shows the most popular cereal varieties across the Prairies
Step one: Identify your weed enemy
Step two: Identify the best means to combat it. Here are some ways to help determine the treatments for weeds, insects and diseases
Reading Time: 4 minutes Is that cow cockle or cocklebur? It’s easy to tell when it’s grown so much that it’s already cost you yield, but not so easy when it’s first popping out of the ground. And once you know for sure, what are your control options? Insect control is even trickier. Is that critter eating my crop, […] Read more
There’s a spreadsheet that can do that
Provincial farm management staffs have developed tools for everything from converting bushels to tonnes to planning a whole year’s cropping plan
Reading Time: 5 minutes Smartphones and their apps may be handy for some purposes, but they’re not tools for making detailed calculations, especially the kind that you have to take to your banker. That’s where you’re better off with an old-fashioned Excel spreadsheet, and thanks to government extension staff in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, there are many adaptations where […] Read more
Morriss: Cell companies bad, railways good?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Just as there’s good stress and bad stress, there’s good excitement and bad excitement. There’s the good excitement you get when watching the Grey Cup, especially if you’re a Riders fan. Then there’s the other kind of excitement (as in riled up) you got watching this year’s Grey Cup commercials about how the Harper Government […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: Bleak message to Texas cattle producers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Just get out. That’s the bleak message from a Texas A+M University forage specialist to cattle producers who have gone through the driest 12 months in the state’s history. With little to no grazing and hay, should livestock producers continue to try to buy feed, move cattle to another state or just sell out? “It […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: Mo. soybean grower tops 160 bu./ac.
Reading Time: 2 minutes A southwestern Missouri farmer is the first to have officially cracked the 160 bushels per acre mark for soybean yield. Kip Cullers, who farms at Purdy, about 80 km southeast of Joplin, was confirmed — again — as the world record holder on Oct. 12 by the Missouri Soybean Association (MSA), after the weigh check […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: Viterra not seeking AWB, yet
Reading Time: 2 minutes Speculation in Australia’s business media that Canada’s largest grain company may make a play for the former Australian Wheat Board is so far just speculation, according to Viterra’s CEO. AWB Ltd. agreed late last month to an A$855 million (C$799 million) all-stock takeover bid by its larger Australian rival, GrainCorp. The companies’ wedding is seen […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: Triffids return to British TV
Reading Time: 2 minutes As Canadian government and industry officials attempt to get the genetically modified flax variety Triffid out of the system so shipments can resume to Europe, British TV viewers are being reminded of the sci-fi creature of the same name. This week the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) concluded airing a new two-part made-for-TV adaptation of the […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: Aircraft firm packs heat on crop duster
Reading Time: 2 minutes A U.S. maker of agricultural and firefighting aircraft has tricked out one of its crop-duster models for low-level warfare. Air Tractor, based at Olney, Tex., about 180 km northwest of Fort Worth, brought its AT-802U “Air Truck” to this year’s International Paris Air Show, where according to an article Tuesday by Associated Press reporter Slobodan […] Read more
Editors’ Picks: Agricultural analysis goes animated
Reading Time: 2 minutes A four-minute animated adaptation of a 62-page report on food security from Japan’s agriculture ministry has become a “minor YouTube hit,” according to the U.S. magazine BusinessWeek. Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recently commissioned Tokyo design studio Groovisions, which has previously developed visuals for MTV in Japan, to develop a MAFF report, […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
