Reading Time: 2 minutes Seriously? Can it really be better to till up and down some slopes instead of across? That’s one of the conclusions from early work with precision agriculture in Australia, where the technology is proving a boon for field crop productivity. It turns out that older technologies have blinded us to much of what’s really going […] Read more
Soil plays a major role in precision sustainability
Precision technology is teaching us some surprising eye-openers
Where’s the consumer voice in sustainable agriculture?
Farmers must make consumers knowledgeable about what sustainability means
Reading Time: 3 minutes Consumers are the forgotten beneficiaries of ag sustainability, and forgetting to communicate with them can be one of agriculture’s most damaging errors, says farmer and philanthropist Howard Buffett. “Consumers are our shareholders,” Buffett says. “At the end of the day, they do count, whether we like it or not.” Nick Betts, who doubles as co-ordinator […] Read more
Day of reckoning coming for U.S. farmers
How long can the U.S. compete in a world where other countries are working much more effectively at sustainability?
Reading Time: 4 minutes American farmers are getting beaten badly by the likes of Brazil, Argentina and Australia. All those countries are far outpacing the U.S. rate for adopting conservation farm strategies, says Howard G. Buffett, and he believes a day of reckoning for the U.S. may come sooner rather than later. It won’t be pretty, Buffett told the […] Read more
Disease geometry
If all three sides of the disease triangle are present, you could have trouble on your hands in the coming growing season
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s pretty much impossible to say in advance exactly what crop diseases are going to be present in your fields this coming season — but you can still have a solid idea of what to look for when the time comes. That’s because crop diseases are greatly influenced by weather and history, and when these […] Read more
Insect outlook
Spring is just around the corner, and Prairie farmers will soon be battling hungry pests again
Reading Time: 5 minutes The lingering snow outside your window may suggest otherwise, but spring is right around the corner, and with that comes insect issues farmers should be aware of. The single biggest thing that will affect insect populations is spring weather. Cool, wet conditions best slow those crop-munching pests, says Saskatchewan’s provincial insect specialist Scott Hartley. While […] Read more
The world according to Gartman
Global shifts in economies and livelihoods to be unprecedented
Reading Time: 3 minutes There may be some bumps ahead, but the worst of the world’s economic turmoil may be over. “I think we have to pay attention to the fact that consumers and businesses are as liquid as we have seen them in the past 15 to 20 years,” trader Dennis Gartman, editor and publisher of The Gartman […] Read more
Sticky land rental rates
With other farmers bidding up 2014 rates, your only choice may be to go big or stay home
Reading Time: 3 minutes Grain prices have sunk, but it’s no news in farm circles that farmland rental values don’t look set to follow anytime soon. Nor, perhaps, should it be any surprise. “If we look at the trends in rental rates versus crop receipts… rental rates go up slower than crop income, but then they also take some […] Read more
Rent, or share?
Innovative rental agreements are as cyclical as rental rates
Reading Time: 3 minutes The popularity of renting farmland has risen in Canada in the last 30 years. In 2011, 61.5 per cent farmland was owned and 38.5 per cent was rented out, according to Statistics Canada. Proportionately, the West rents more, although rental levels were high across the country: 29 per cent in Ontario, 34 per cent in […] Read more
Not dead yet
Reading Time: 5 minutes Speculation about the impending death of Winnipeg canola futures misses the mark, industry watchers say Winnipeg’s canola futures have plenty of life left, say experts who refute any predictions about the inevitability of a death watch for the market. A year ago, record open interest was being set in the canola market, but when June 2013 […] Read more
GF2 in the classroom
With GF2 grants, more farmers across the country are signing up for winter study
Reading Time: 4 minutes When federal and provincial governments unveiled their individualized slates of Growing Forward 2 offerings earlier this year, most farmers were busy in their fields. Now, with harvest more or less complete, more and more growers are showing interest in taking advantage of the numerous farm management and marketing courses on tap. Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Ron Bonnett says farm education has been positioned as […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
