Reading Time: 7 minutes Kevin and Judy Wilkinson have never been afraid to take the road less travelled, as I learn while navigating their winding driveway on a late-spring weekend. Four-wheel drive is a must to get through the thick mud here, and the laneway snakes through the boreal forest for about two miles before stopping at their ranch, […] Read more
The road less travelled
Here’s proof that niche markets can thrive far away from the city lights
Guenther: Cutworms eye new Prairie soybean acres
Reading Time: 2 minutes Some soybean growers in Saskatchewan’s southeastern corner are dealing with unwelcome dinner guests. Brad Eggum, of Eggum Seed Sales, was scouting a soybean field when he came across cutworms by chance. “The beans were struggling to get through and we were just checking the emergence and started finding (cutworms),” says Eggum, who farms near Halbrite, […] Read more
Guenther: Scout now for flea beetles
Reading Time: < 1 minute Flea beetles are on the march and Prairie farmers need to scout canola fields to keep them at bay. “I’ve seen some fields where flea beetles’ levels are high enough where it has warranted spraying. Again, like every year, it is spotty,” Lyndon Hicks said during an interview here during Canada’s Farm Progress Show. Hicks […] Read more
FNA pins down south-central Sask. site for Project N
Reading Time: 2 minutes Regina — Farmers of North America (FNA) will be breaking ground at Belle Plaine, Sask., for its farmer-owned nitrogen plant. “For strategic reasons it’s a very good site,” FNA spokesperson Bob Friesen said in an interview here Wednesday at Canada’s Farm Progress Show. The Belle Plaine site, about 40 km west of Regina, has access […] Read more
Guenther: Demand, supply carry cattle producers to ‘this year country’
Reading Time: 2 minutes Maple Creek, Sask. — Ranchers are all too familiar with the mindset behind the phrase “next year country,” which implies hope for better times ahead. But as one rancher at the Cow Town Livestock Exchange put it, it looks like they’ve now entered “this year country” instead. It’s no wonder cattle producers feel more optimistic: […] Read more
Guenther: NW Sask. growers hustle within seeding window
Reading Time: 2 minutes Jay Millard is chipper so far this seeding season. “The weather’s been good. It’s warmed up and things are growing. That’s as good as it gets,” he said. Millard farms about 3,500 acres in the Livelong area, about 90 km northwest of North Battleford, Sask. As of Friday he has about 2,000 acres under his […] Read more
U.S. won’t move on COOL before WTO does, Ritz says
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s trade pact with the U.S. and Mexico, which came into effect 20 years ago back in January, has long been a point of pride for free-trade advocates. Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, in Mexico this week meeting with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts, told reporters the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) “has proven […] Read more
CP, grain handlers plan for face time
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) and players in the Prairie grain industry are ready to sit down at the same table and discuss logistics issues, representatives from both industries said. In a media release last week, CP CEO Hunter Harrison said the railway has contacted customers and stakeholders such as the Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA). […] Read more
Guenther: Trade’s eyes on U.S. winter wheat in crop report
Reading Time: 3 minutes Drought in the southwestern U.S. Plains is expected to focus traders on hard red winter wheat numbers in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s next crop production report due out Friday. “The trade currently looks for about 780 million bushels, which is above the 2013 level but well below a 10-year average of nearly 900 million bu.,” […] Read more
Guenther: How cold is too cold for soil at seeding?
Reading Time: 2 minutes Spring snow may have unleashed a litany of complaints among Saskatchewan residents — but has also brought relief to parched soils in the province’s northwest. Errin Tollefson, an agronomist with Cavalier Agrow at Medstead, Sask., about 170 km west of Prince Albert, said last fall was the driest she’s seen in her 10 years of […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
