Reading Time: 5 minutes Stan Jeeves runs a mixed farm near Wolseley, a southeastern Saskatchewan community once named one of Canada’s prettiest towns by Harrowsmith Country Life Magazine. Jeeves takes a common-sense approach to selling grain. “I start with calculating my cost of production,” Jeeves says. “And then I know when I need cash flow.” From there, Jeeves looks for […] Read more
Managing production costs, charting a profit
Theory is great for textbooks. In real life, farmers like Stan Jeeves, need practical marketing programs, which they’re building for themselves
The future of cereal futures
Will the West ever get realistic cereal futures contracts?
Reading Time: 8 minutes They used to call Winnipeg the “Chicago of the North.” In fact, in 1943, wheat contracts traded on Winnipeg’s Grain Exchange Building surpassed the wheat volume in Chicago. But that lead was short lived. The Second World War effectively killed wheat futures in Winnipeg, ushering in the era of the Canadian Wheat Board’s (CWB) single […] Read more
On the job: Selling the virtues of work on the farm
Can farmers compete against the oilfield and other industries? Our Lisa Guenther goes straight to the source
Reading Time: 7 minutes As farms get bigger, the challenge of finding workers to cover those extra acres or to help manage those larger herds is getting bigger too, especially when agriculture goes head to head up against more lucrative jobs in other sectors. Farmers are a bit perplexed, though. I mean, surely anyone would want the life that […] Read more
Hybrid rye to be tested in Manitoba
Reading Time: < 1 minute FP Genetics and Paterson Grain are rolling out a demonstration program for a new hybrid fall rye in Manitoba. The new hybrid, dubbed Brasetto, yields about 25 per cent higher than existing varieties, says Ron Weik, seed portfolio manager with FP Genetics. Brasetto is also four to six inches shorter than Hazlet, he adds. “And […] Read more
Whether to spray for fusarium: flowering period is key
Reading Time: 2 minutes Wet weather in eastern Saskatchewan and much of Manitoba means farmers likely have fusarium head blight risk on their minds. But cereal grades are only at stake risk if environmental risks match up with flowering, a crop pathologist says. Vikram Bisht, field crop pathologist with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, says two or three […] Read more
Guenther: Cereal crops hit with ergot needed for livestock project
Reading Time: 2 minutes Saskatchewan Agriculture wants to hear from farmers who find ergot in their cereals this summer. The ministry is asking producers to start scouting for the disease a week after crops start flowering and report ergot to their regional offices as soon as it’s detected. It’s all part of a new project designed to help livestock […] Read more
Guenther: Wanted for science: Southern Alberta canola fields
Reading Time: 2 minutes A University of Manitoba researcher will lead a group of researchers who aim to pinpoint avirulence genes in blackleg found in farmers’ fields. The group will also study how the fungus adapts to different canola cultivars and how agronomy affects blackleg populations. They’re currently looking for farmers in southern Alberta to allow them to collect samples once or twice a year during the four-year study.
Crops in northwestern Sask. faring relatively well
Reading Time: 2 minutes While crops in southeast and east-central Saskatchewan struggle against surplus moisture, fields in the province’s northwest generally look good. “As long as nothing silly happens between now and harvest we should be good,” said Dave Shepherd, manager of AgriTeam Services at Glaslyn, 67 km north of North Battleford. Errin Tollefson, agronomist with Cavalier Agrow at […] Read more
Soaked Manitoba soils may take out some insect pests
Reading Time: 2 minutes Crops may not be the only casualties of drenched Manitoba soil. Under the right circumstances, superfluous rain can kill insect pests, too. Most of Manitoba’s southwestern corner and parts of the province’s Interlake region were hammered with 176 to 200 per cent of normal precipitation between May 1 and last Sunday (July 6). The Virden […] Read more
Guenther: In dry SW Sask., past flood damage still lingers
Reading Time: 2 minutes Four years later, rancher Eric Lawrence is still feeling the effects of the Maple Creek flood. On June 17 and 18, 2010, a severe rainstorm dropped about 100 mm in Maple Creek, which hugs the north side of the Cypress Hills in southwestern Saskatchewan. The rain fell on the heels of the wettest May and […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
