Reading Time: 6 minutes High land prices and persistent problems with haying weather in Western Canada are prompting more cattle producers to consider corn silage. Acreage has increased steadily in for the past five years, especially in Alberta where producers seeded 110,000 acres of silage corn in 2016, up from 70,000 acres in 2012. “New genetics have made corn […] Read more
Corn silage moves west
The prospect of more tons per acre and fewer worries about harvest weather is prompting some cattle producers to park the baler
Growing your own N
New research in Saskatchewan proves forage rotations of only two years can provide a valuable fertility boost
Reading Time: 3 minutes When Duane Thompson talks about sustainability, he makes no bones about the fact that nothing is sustainable unless it’s economical for the farmer. “Sustainability is a nice notion but you want to be improving and getting better,” he says. “I’m not really big on sustainability — I want to be sustainable-plus.” Thompson is a case […] Read more
High-quality forages tougher to find this year
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada — There seems to be no shortage of forages in Western Canada this year, as wet weather has allowed grasses to keep progressing at a steady rate. Finding high-quality hay could be the challenge, however, according to crop watchers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. “It’s been tough for guys to put four to five […] Read more
Rain causes extreme haying delays
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– Excessive rain and high humidity over the past few weeks are causing major problems for haying operations in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. “We should be well underway in our progress and I think we are far behind right now,” said Leanna Rousell, executive director of the Saskatchewan Forage Council. The majority of Saskatchewan […] Read more
Foraging for better soils
If you aren’t growing forages, can you really say you’re farming sustainably?
Reading Time: 4 minutes The soil has its own perspective, says soil scientist Mario Tenuta, which explains why in Western Canada, where intensive farming has “only” been going on for 100 years, our soils are actually still young. “Our soils are not mature, compared to places like Europe or Africa,” Tenuta says. Over the last 50 years of farming, […] Read more
Roundup Ready alfalfa primed for launch in East
Reading Time: 3 minutes The company with Roundup Ready alfalfa on its launchpad plans a limited rollout of commercial seed into Canada’s six eastern provinces this spring. In a move likely to face opposition from several farm groups across the country, Forage Genetics International (FGI) on Tuesday announced plans for a limited release of commercial HarvXtra alfalfa “in time for […] Read more
Galega — a new forage import from Eastern Europe
Tests at the Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station suggest it could be a high-yielding option for Eastern Canada
Reading Time: 4 minutes If lower commodity prices have proved anything, it’s that the search in Eastern Canada for cropping options and alternative management practices is not limited to just corn, wheat and soybeans. Canola growers in Ontario’s Near North and northwestern Quebec are testing fababeans and growers throughout the east are experimenting with cover crops and cover crop […] Read more
Forage breeding faces funding challenges
Government has cut back, private companies are not keen on crops that don’t need to be reseeded every year, and you can’t check off sales to farmers’ own livestock
Reading Time: 3 minutes Forages are Canada’s biggest crop but you wouldn’t know it because of the few resources that go into breeding them. You’d think that, given its size, forage would be a giant in the world of plant breeding. Unfortunately, it’s more of a midget. Canada has only four major publicly funded programs for breeding tame forages, […] Read more
Quebec haymakers use homemade dryer to improve quality
The Normandins also modified a small hay baler to convert big square bales into small ones
Reading Time: 2 minutes David Normandin and his brother Mathieu preferred driving tractors to milking cows and that’s why they make hay and not milk. The brothers, along with their father Luc and Luc’s partner’s daughter, Audrey Mailloux, operate Norfoin Inc., 57 km southeast of Montreal in the Montérégie region of la belle province. The operation had been a […] Read more
Sainfoin: a new forage legume for Ontario livestock producers
Its non-bloating qualities make it a perfect companion to long-standing favourites, or it works well on its own
Reading Time: 4 minutes Mention the term “forage legume” in Eastern Canada, and just about any producer will mention alfalfa or clover. Livestock producers can likely name off another 10 or 12 species, like birdsfoot trefoil, alsike, timothy, orchardgrass or meadow bromegrass. But few will mention sainfoin, well-known in Western Canada but a relative newcomer to Ontario and Quebec. […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
