Reading Time: 2 minutes Alberta’s new provincewide ban on recreational use of off-highway vehicles (OHVs) in provincial parks and on other public lands won’t apply to their use in farm work. The provincial government announced the temporary OHV ban Friday as “another tool… to help prevent the spread of wildfires,” on top of Thursday’s provincewide fire ban and its […] Read more
Farming uses exempt from Alberta off-roading ban
A new era on the farm begins
We’re living at the dawn of the robot as hired farmhand
Reading Time: 6 minutes A friend has been keeping me posted by email about her trouble finding a full-time employee for the family farm in Saskatchewan. If it didn’t represent such a serious problem for the operation, the details would actually be pretty funny. A few — how do I say it? — less-than-adequate applicants are all her efforts […] Read more
West’s hog farmers urged to insist trailers cleaned in Canada
Reading Time: 2 minutes Hog industry officials in Western Canada want hog producers to insist that livestock trailers coming to their farms be washed at certified Canadian cleaning facilities — even if the trailers were just cleaned on the U.S. side of the border. The recommendation comes as a federally-approved trailer-wash pilot project, credited with helping to keep porcine epidemic diarrhea […] Read more
Cost index for railways’ grain revenue cap gets boost
Reading Time: 2 minutes The loonie’s decline since last year has led federal regulators to dial up the index guiding how much money Canada’s big two railways get to keep from hauling Prairie grain. The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) announced Friday it will raise its volume-related composite price index (VRCPI) by 4.8 per cent, to 1.3275, for the 2016-17 […] Read more
Farm machinery goes where politicians fear to tread
Reading Time: 5 minutes A couple of interesting and potentially surprising announcements arose in January from DLG, the German Agricultural Society, which organizes the world’s largest farm machinery show called Agritechnica. First, DLG revealed it is creating an independent subsidiary organization in Russia. Second, it announced it had reached an agreement with the Iranian Ministry of Agriculture to help […] Read more
Vaderstad planter sets a new Tempo
Vaderstad introduces new models of its Tempo high-speed planters
Reading Time: 3 minutes Sweden’s Vaderstad is adding to its Tempo line of high-speed planters with two new versions that are destined for dealer lots in Canada. Mounted via a three-point-hitch, the new Tempo V planter is available in seven different models with working widths from 4.2 to 6.6 metres. The largest version is available as a 12-row, or […] Read more
Ottawa moves to extend expanded rail interswitching
Reading Time: 4 minutes Prairie crop growers hoping that changes in federal rail freight rules will continue past their expiration date are about to get their wish. Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay on Friday announced they would bring forward a resolution in Parliament to extend provisions of the previous government’s Bill C-30, the Fair Rail […] Read more
CP pulls more grain for less in first quarter
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) hauled more carloads of Canadian grain in its first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year — but for less revenue per car. Calgary-based CP on Wednesday reported overall net income of $540 million on revenues of $1.591 billion for its quarter ending March 31, up from $320 […] Read more
Ad Feature: Edmonton firm acquires water works capacity
Reading Time: 3 minutes Edmonton-based Stantec Inc., an engineering and infrastructure consulting company, has announced the biggest deal in its 62-year history. The all-cash deal for Broomfield, Colorado-based MWH Global, which Stantec said is expected to close in the second quarter could increase Stantec’s annual revenues by about 60 per cent, to more than $4.5 billion, while its global […] Read more
High-tech seeding
New equipment options promise growers more and better control over this critical field operation
Reading Time: 7 minutes Over the years, few field operations have caused growers more head scratching. Seeding is the critical first step in getting a good crop, and there are many variables in play. Is the seedbed right? Are the fertilizer and seed separation acceptable? Is the seed placed evenly? Is it being sown at the right depth? As […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
