Reading Time: 2 minutes High demand, scarce supplies and rising prices for hay and other feeds due to this summer’s drought on the Prairies have made a market for online scammers, RCMP warn. The urgency driving such transactions may cause ranchers, farmers and farm workers to make purchases “without taking time to properly verify or research production sources,” Alberta […] Read more
Hay-starved Prairies fertile ground for online scammers
At least $64,000 lost in Alberta alone, RCMP says
CFA’s Hay West program up and running
Program website now online
Reading Time: 2 minutes A revival of the “Hay West” initiative, aimed at shipping feed from Eastern Canada to supplement drought-dented supplies in the West, has gone live. The Canadian Federation of Agriculture on Friday announced its Hay West 2021 initiative is “now operational and seeking applicants to both receive and supply hay.” Applicants interested in either supplying or […] Read more
Ontario MDS volunteers already moving hay west
Disaster response group spearheading program separate from CFA plan
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s in the spirit of co-operation in difficult times that a group of Ontario farmers have launched a hay donation program to assist their Saskatchewan counterparts. Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) Canada, a volunteer organization that provides assistance in the aftermath of disasters in Canada and the U.S., is organizing the latest iteration of Hay West […] Read more
Beware of high nitrate levels in drought-stressed forages
Feed tests the ideal starting point when managing forages with nitrate accumulation
Reading Time: 2 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Feed testing is your first priority when it comes to dealing with high nitrate levels in drought-stressed forages. Bart Lardner, professor of animal and poultry science at the University of Saskatchewan, says that nitrate accumulation can be more of an issue with annual forages during a dry, hot summer, and it’s important […] Read more
Plans afoot to move hay from East to drought-hit West
CFA, BFO spearheading Hay West-style initiatives
Reading Time: 2 minutes Farm groups are spearheading new plans to get livestock feed from Eastern Canada to drought-damaged regions of the western provinces and northwestern Ontario. Details are still pending, but the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) announced Aug. 12 it has started work on a “Hay West” initiative to get surplus hay “to those struggling in the […] Read more
Manitoba triggers hay disaster benefit
Per-tonne rate lifted to cover feed, transport costs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Manitoba’s crop insurance agency is set to lift the per-tonne rate paid out on insured forage crops to help cover livestock producers’ bills to buy and truck in replacement feed. Manitoba Agricultural Services Corp. (MASC) on Thursday announced a 2021 hay disaster benefit to provide another $44 per tonne, for every tonne below coverage, to […] Read more
‘Time is ticking’ on drought response for beef cattle sector
'We need answers like yesterday'
Reading Time: 3 minutes As Canada’s beef farmers and ranchers face drought, industry leaders are trying to find ways to secure feed and help those forced to sell rebuild their herds. B.C. ranchers are dealing with high temperatures that have “parched the grass that was there,” Kevin Boone, general manager of B.C. Cattlemen’s Association, said during a Canadian Cattlemen’s […] Read more
Saskatchewan raises salvage threshold for parched crops
Stock watering program also boosted; APAS, Tories' ag critic had called for more drought aid
Reading Time: 3 minutes Saskatchewan’s provincial crop insurance agency is raising the yield threshold at which drought-damaged crops can be grazed, baled for greenfeed or cut for silage with no penalty on future coverage. Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. said Wednesday it would double the “low yield appraisal” threshold values on cereal or pulse crop acres put to feed. SCIC […] Read more
Anthrax kills southeastern Saskatchewan sheep
Spores forced up by changes in soil moisture
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dramatic shifts in soil moisture are again bringing anthrax spores to the surface on the Prairies, this time in a southeastern Saskatchewan sheep pasture. Lab results on Wednesday confirmed anthrax as the cause of death of one animal in a flock of sheep in the R.M. of South Qu’Appelle, about 50 km east of Regina, […] Read more
Getting forage crops off to a good start
Weed control and fertility are among the considerations before planting tame forage
Reading Time: 4 minutes As so often in farming, the advice on the best strategy for establishing tame pastures starts with “It depends.” “When we’re talking about general establishment considerations for all uses, we really have to look at the soil type, the texture, soil pH and how rocky it is,” says Mike Witt, a farmer, professional hydrologist and […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
