Reading Time: 2 minutes Farmers make decisions every day, of course, but with time it often seems that every year has its one big decision that really influences the next five years for that farm, and sometimes much more. If that’s true, what will shake out as your biggest decision this year? Or maybe you will look back and […] Read more
Editor’s Note: Why we believe in summer business
On your neighbours’ farms, 2017 is emerging as the most important year of the decade for making — or not making — key farm decisions
Manage down-force
New monitors and individual-unit controls give growers a better shot at top yields
Reading Time: 8 minutes It was in March 2012 that Dr. Fred Below of the University of Illinois first published his list of the seven wonders of high-yield corn production, revolutionizing how North America’s farmers and agronomists think about corn management. Is it time to shake up that list? Even keeping in mind the differences between growing conditions south […] Read more
A shadow on land prices
Purdue University survey offers a stark look at farmland values south of the border
Reading Time: 10 minutes This past fall, harvest stumbled to a finish. In parts of Ontario, combines chewed through spindly, drought-stricken corn on the same days that Prairie farmers drove their machines into swathes that had been buried in snow. It was enough to make those sporadic reports of feedlots shutting down, U.S. crop farms going bankrupt, and Midwest […] Read more
Counting the full value of farming
After years of talking, ALUS enviro-payments are finally going mainstream, with 722 farmers already getting cheques
Reading Time: 8 minutes To get an idea of a farm’s financial health, we check the balance sheet. It’s straightforward. On the one side are liabilities like loans and outstanding bills to suppliers. On the other are assets like inventory, cash, land, buildings and equipment. Then you simply subtract the liabilities from the assets to find net shareholders’ equity, […] Read more
A healthier soil test
Is it time to start investing in the Solvita soil test for your farm?
Reading Time: 6 minutes It’s a curious trend. “Soil health” is one of the great buzz phrases of modern agriculture. Admittedly, it’s just words to some, yet for a dedicated and growing number of producers, it’s a primary goal. Yet if you ask the average farmer if they test their soil once every three years, as recommended, the answer […] Read more
Getting down to biology
Finally there may be a soil test to help you see your soil the way that your crop’s roots see it
Reading Time: 8 minutes Soil health is on everyone’s mind these days. Perhaps it’s tied to volatility in the commodity markets, or to the risk of consumer and government scrutiny. Or maybe more growers are interested in “doing things right.” No matter the cause, there’s a long list of farm professionals welcoming the trend with open arms. “Ultimately, the […] Read more
It’s two careers
For Gordon and Sonia Decker, the key to success is to make their roles on the farm into rich, rewarding careers
Reading Time: 7 minutes Farming demands great decision making. Solid takes on agronomy, machinery, commodity markets and finance are just the price of admission these days. To thrive, farmers must deploy all that knowledge both for long-term goal-setting and also to make countless moment-by-moment decisions in the field and in the office, often under enormous pressure. They must also […] Read more
Our farmland for sale
The West is clamping down on foreign ownership of farmland, and even in Ontario, where there are few controls, overseas purchases are much lower than the rumour mill says
Reading Time: 5 minutes Almost every rural coffee shop has its own version of the same story. Foreigners are buying up Canadian farmland and they’re making land prices soar beyond the reach of local farmers as a result. But is it true? Maybe. But not likely. In fact, according to the people with their fingers on the pulse, such […] Read more
Soil testing by laser beam
A Quebec company has developed a soil-test system using laser technology that reports more accurate results in just three days
Reading Time: 4 minutes Iké Nault regularly stops his ATV on a 25-acre freshly cut hayfield belonging to a producer from Howick, 30 kilometres south of Montreal. Probe in hand, the young technician methodically collects soil samples. Each stop is georeferenced as a green dot on a field map on his cellphone screen. It really is “space age” technology, […] Read more
What if the party’s over?
Maybe these strategies will keep more of us from repeating the tragic ’80s
Reading Time: 9 minutes What is a grain farmer to do? Encouraged by both record-high crop prices and production over the past few years, you bought more land and upgraded your combine. With record-low interest rates, these were shrewd business decisions that pencilled out. They made sense, right? Except now crop prices are flat, and those responsible for input […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
