University of Manitoba Archives

When college grads come home to the farm

If your kids come back from college and just end up behind the wheel of a tractor, you're missing some serious opportunities

By Lorraine Stevenson November 14, 2019

Reading Time: 9 minutes On a sun-dappled morning in mid-September, 80 young men and women assemble in a large auditorium at the University of Manitoba’s campus. They’re here for a day of orientation as they begin two years of study towards their agricultural diplomas. Among them is 18-year-old George Meggison. He’s following in the footsteps of two sisters, as […] Read more

With plans in hand, Brett Sheffield consults with NextGen’s Clint Sibbick.

Guide Business

Farm skills shape a path for fast-growing business venture

In a growing trend, Brett Sheffield has used his farm business know-how to build one of Western Canada’s largest and fastest-growing tile drainage companies

By Lorraine Stevenson November 6, 2019

Reading Time: 8 minutes Something big jumps out at you when you scan the Growth 500 list of Canada’s fastest growing companies for 2019. It’s produced by Canadian Business magazine based on the five-year revenue growth posted by each company, and tucked in amongst all the names of all the non-agricultural, big-city enterprises on the list, is one very […] Read more

Crops, Soybeans

Soybean cyst nematode confirmed in Manitoba

By GFM Staff September 19, 2019

Reading Time: 2 minutes A damaging soybean pest that was expected to show up sooner or later in agricultural Manitoba has officially arrived. Crop surveys by University of Manitoba Ph.D. student Nazanin Ghavami with soil science professor Mario Tenuta and his students have turned up soybean cyst nematode at “extremely low” levels on soybean plant roots in one field […] Read more

One study found that low soil temperature caused slower emergence in the spring, but it did not affect yield later in the season.

Crops, Soybeans

Check the calendar, or the thermometer when deciding to plant soybeans?

Selecting the right soybean variety for the area is the best strategy for avoiding frost damage at either end of the season

By Angela Lovell May 15, 2019

Reading Time: 7 minutes In the space of a few years, soybeans on the eastern Prairies have gone from an experimental crop to a standard in the rotation, but there’s still that lingering thought that soybeans are a sensitive short-season crop and you need to get them in early to avoid fall frost. But how early? And what about […] Read more

Fancy soil test kit — researchers used the Canadian Light Source synchrotron in Saskatoon to analyze the biological cycling P goes through in the soil.

Crops

Soil tests may not tell the whole story of phosphorus

Research shows “legacy” phosphorus might support crops long after you’ve stopped making applications

By Julienne Isaacs February 22, 2019

Reading Time: 5 minutes Do soil tests accurately reflect how much phosphorus is actually available to plants? A long-term study at the Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre in Swift Current, Sask., suggests they don’t. Research scientist Barbara Cade-Menun is leading a study on continuous wheat plots established in 1967. Until 1995, the plots received both nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer; […] Read more

Matt Johnson of M3 Aerial Productions says canopy reflectance tells you where you need to take a closer look.

Crops, Equipment

A drone spots a problem in your field. Now what?

Drone-mounted cameras measuring NDVI reflectance can identify crop problems, but not necessarily the cause. Researchers are looking for other tools that might

By Julienne Isaacs January 11, 2019

Reading Time: 5 minutes It’s been more than a few years since drones made their debut in agriculture, but questions about whether they’re worth producers’ time aren’t going away. Most agricultural drones are set up to measure canopy reflectance using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), a graphical indicator that assesses crop health by measuring canopy reflectance. Drones carrying […] Read more

The associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan says that for more than a decade there have been more women than men in the ag programs.

Features, Guide Business, News

‘Super Keen’

Ag education is hot, and enrolment is booming from coast to coast

By Treena Hein November 23, 2018

Reading Time: 8 minutes It’s inspiring for anyone in agriculture to talk to the principals and deans at ag-related academic institutions across the country. More than ever in history, young Canadians are pursuing careers in ag. In a nutshell, it’s because there are jobs in agriculture after school — good jobs that offer exciting and interesting career paths for […] Read more

Kristen MacMillan says interactions such as bean type, variety, inoculant type and environment can affect how edible beans interact with the N in the soil.

Crops

How much N? A soil test isn’t the only answer

Different crops, different varieties, different inoculants, and different soil environments all affect the N-application decision these days

By Angela Lovell October 16, 2018

Reading Time: 5 minutes You need to know two things to calculate your nitrogen application — the crop requirement and the available N in the soil. At least that used to be the case, but it’s not now, not since pulse crops have become such an important part of the rotation. When it comes to fixing N, not all […] Read more

When farmers deviate from their plan, it can often end badly, says one professor of agricultural economics.

Guide Business, Marketing

Benchmark your marketing

How good are you at marketing? Or maybe more to the point, how bad are you?

By Maggie Van Camp September 7, 2018

Reading Time: 5 minutes Does it necessarily mean you’re poor at marketing if you aren’t actively engaged in daily trading? What if you have never done a paper trade, or if you haven’t ever locked in a private contract with a processer? Does that mean you’re a bad farmer? Obviously, the answer is no. It doesn’t have to mean […] Read more

Crops, Guide Business

Is there a tipping point on intercropping?

By Lisa Guenther June 20, 2018

Reading Time: 3 minutes Farmers’ current interest in intercropping has caught some off guard. On November 29, 2017, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture ran an intercropping workshop in Regina. Workshop organizers expected about 40 people. But 140 people showed up, including several from Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Michigan. Sask Ag ran a second intercropping workshop in January, and another 200 […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME cattle, hogs firm on winter weather woes

CGC revises domestic canola usage downward

Prairie cash wheat: Bids mostly lower

GFM Network News