Reading Time: < 1 minute Since Ryan Hofford started converting his organic grain farm north of Swan River, Manitoba, to a conventional operation in 2021, he’s made dramatic changes to the way he farms. Along the way, he’s needed a lot of information and advice. There are lots of workshops and websites helping farmers convert the other way — from […] Read more
Never stop asking questions
Farm advice for his ‘younger self’
Reading Time: 2 minutes Steven Snider was Alberta’s Outstanding Young Farmer in 2003. Twenty years later, he’s still running a successful farm near New Norway, Alberta, growing organic heritage grains and organic pulse crops for the organic milling and food processing industries. He also runs Little Red Hen Mills. Looking back over his career, we asked Steven Snider what […] Read more
How optical sprayers do a whole lot more
[Better Advice] Optical spraying systems can pay off if used only for pre-seed burnoffs, but with a little pushing of boundaries, these farmers are finding they can also use the technology to target fungicides and pre-harvest desiccants
Reading Time: 5 minutes Early adopters are buying optical spraying systems to greatly reduce the amount of herbicide required for pre-season burnoff of weeds. This alone is often enough to justify the cost for larger farms that cover thousands of acres per year. But pre-seed burnoff — seeing green weeds on brown ground and spraying them — is just […] Read more
Planning the pullback
[Better Advice] Learning from David Hansen’s graceful exit from Canterra Seeds
Reading Time: 7 minutes Note: On October 2, 2023, Canterra Seeds appointed Brent Derkatch as its new president and CEO. Derkatch has been working with Canterra since 2001, most recently as the director of the pedigreed seed business unit. When a key employee leaves your farm operation, how much notice is best? If they leave too abruptly, you might […] Read more
Training fills the gaps between agriculture and technology
Program aims to match tech specialists with farmers and industry employers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – Say there’s trouble with the automated GIS and mapping features on the tractor, but you can’t find a tech with enough knowledge to offer help. It’s a simple example of the kind of employment gaps that keep farmers up at night, and that prevent their adoption of new technology, said the manager of an […] Read more
Crop rotations and the bottom line
Prairie researchers examine how different crop rotations affect net economic returns
Reading Time: 7 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – When it comes to on-farm decision making, the bottom line for most farmers is often, well, the bottom line. A 2019 survey of Manitoba farmers bore that out. The survey, conducted on behalf of the Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers, asked farmers which factors were important to them when planning their crop […] Read more
U.K. author explores regenerative practices on farm
James Rebanks’s first novel celebrated traditional practices, but since publication, he’s been looking for better ways to farm
Reading Time: 5 minutes Glacier FarmMedia – James Rebanks is proud of his farming heritage — in fact, he wrote a best-selling novel featuring traditional farming practices in the U.K. But he wants to do better. Rebanks is from the Lake District of the U.K., an area popular with tourists because of the rolling mountains inset with sapphire-blue lakes. […] Read more
A potato producer’s commitment to change
Embracing soil health and new technologies helped Peter VanderZaag build a successful potato business. Like most farmers these days, he’s faced with having to do more with less
Reading Time: 4 minutes Every farmer knows that change is inevitable. New markets beckon, new technologies emerge, end-user tastes, preferences and opportunities shift, and it’s often the primary producer who’s one of the first to react. Peter VanderZaag has spent much of his farming career investing wisely in new equipment, securing contracts and growing his Sunrise Potato Storage business […] Read more
In the Men’s Sheds
Men’s Sheds are helping rewrite the old idea that farmers have nothing to look forward to in retirement
Reading Time: 9 minutes John Wiebe raised cattle for 45 years, growing grain with his two brothers at Amaranth, near Lake Manitoba. That part of his life was much like that of any other farmer. But for more than 30 years of it, Wiebe also got in the habit of spending any spare days at Minnedosa, a town of […] Read more
Everywhere he looks: How does this Alberta farmer find so much opportunity?
“There are opportunities everywhere,” says Alberta farmer Glenn Logan. “You just have to pick and choose what might work for you.”
Reading Time: 13 minutes Glenn Logan has two projects on the go that are taking a pile of his energy at a time in his life when many farmers are happy with what they have already accomplished. And once again, his projects are raising eyebrows. Partly, that’s because the Alberta farmer has decided to take 920 acres out of […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
