Reading Time: 10 minutes On the first of May every spring, Kevin MacIsaac heads out on the water with his son-in-law, a lobster fisherman, to set the 300 traps they’re allowed under their quota system. For the next month, the pair are back out on the water to empty those traps — daily, at four in the morning. On […] Read more
Farming in a postcard province
Guide Canada: Prince Edward Island’s agriculture, lobster and tourism industries share a single island — not always easily
Young, and (not) feeling stuck
You’ve gone back to the farm. You’re eager to make real decisions. You feel ready for it too, if only Mom and Dad would let you. So how do you convince them?
Reading Time: 8 minutes We begin with a happy story. It was 3 a.m. and 18-year-old Ryan Galbraith was sitting in a seeder in a field in the middle of Western Australia when he realized all he wanted was to be a farmer. “It was one of those moments — you’re just out there enjoying it, you’re tired but […] Read more
Food writer’s focus on local gets consumer attention
Why do Canadians love to read what Globe & Mail food editor Lucy Waverman thinks about their food and who grows it? Because her love for food is so irresistible
Reading Time: 4 minutes As we talk, Lucy Waverman is listing ingredients she always keeps in her kitchen. “Olive oil and chilies — I always like to have dried chilies or some fresh birdseye or banana peppers — just a pinch of something a little spicy brings out flavour,” she says. Then there’s salmon. Butter. Salt. “Salt is one […] Read more
Making flax harvest a little smoother
An IHARF study looks at four pre-harvest options for dry-down and weed control
Reading Time: 4 minutes Harvestability and residue management problems discourage some producers from growing flax, but one solution may be a pre-harvest herbicide or desiccant. Flax stalks are fibrous and tough to cut or chop, says Chris Holzapfel, research manager at the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation (IHARF). “Sometimes the stalks can stay green for a long time, which […] Read more
Program helps women take the next step in agriculture
You’re overworked already, so how can it possibly make sense to sign up for education approaches like the new ELLE program?
Reading Time: 7 minutes It was 2017, and Kristen Ritson-Bennett was understandably overwhelmed. Ritson-Bennett is an Alberta cattle nutritionist and co-owner of a successful ruminant vitamin and mineral supplement manufacturing business. Plus she was supporting her husband Andrew in starting a second business, a veterinary clinic. And, she was pregnant with her second child. That’s when Ritson-Bennett decided to […] Read more
Winter camelina showing promise
It can be straight cut, and flea beetles aren’t a problem
Reading Time: 5 minutes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s camelina breeder Christina Eynck seeded a couple of winter camelina trials in Saskatoon late in the last third of September 2019. Then there was an early freeze-up. “The plants were only in the cotyledon stage, and very few of them had developed the first true leaves. We thought, ‘This is not […] Read more
Options for monitoring grain bins
3D imaging and CO2 detection are offered as options for monitoring temperature and moisture
Reading Time: 4 minutes Bin monitoring has come a long way since probes on sticks and necessarily so — as the size of grain bins has grown, so has the value of their contents. One 10,000-bushel bin can surpass $100,000. Everyone has heard horror stories of entire bins ruined, but Joy Agnew, associate vice-president of applied research for Olds […] Read more
How Farmers Edge is turning youth into business leaders
Internship program pairs up youth and farm clients with company’s FarmCommand platform
Reading Time: 6 minutes Nikki Tomoniko never intended to work in agriculture. In the spring of 2018, the young Neepawa, Man. woman was looking for a summer job when a family friend mentioned Farmers Edge had a new internship program and was trying to find students for its Alberta office. Tomoniko was studying English and French at university and […] Read more
Choosing your seed. Certified or farm-saved?
There’s general agreement on the merits of certified seed, but a new study shows one isn’t extra yield
Reading Time: 5 minutes Does certified seed beat bin-run seed for yield? A 2004 survey of 800 Prairie growers indicated that 70 to 80 per cent of their cereal acres were seeded to farm-saved seed (FSS), which suggests they don’t think so. But while a recent two-year study indicates they’re right, that doesn’t mean certified seed doesn’t provide extra […] Read more
The next big step: mid-career mentorship
You’re already smart and dedicated, but is that really enough for today’s challenges?
Reading Time: 6 minutes When Adam Gregory signed up for LeaderShift’s year-long national farm leadership program, he didn’t anticipate waking up at the crack of dawn to do group yoga. “Some people were way out of their comfort zone,” Gregory laughs. “I’m open to trying anything, so it wasn’t a hurdle for me.” There’s more to LeaderShift’s program than […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
