Regenerative dairy farmers Henry Nyhof (left to right), Sean Smith and Paul Kernaleguen with conference organizer Ryan Boyd.

Dairy farmers well positioned for regenerative ag, producers say

BALANCES | Increased grazing has seen decreases in butterfat but overall increases in cows’ health, reduced input costs

Canadian dairy farmers may be among the best positioned to take up regenerative farming practices, said producers during a panel discussion at the 2021 Regenerative Ag Conference, held in Brandon Nov. 15 to 17. Supply management means a steady income which can give farmers more confidence to take risks, said Sean Smith, a dairy farmer near Minnedosa. Fairly small herds

“I smell complete bullshit — it’s a terrible idea.” – Gunter Jochum.

Dollars in the dirt

Big Ag pays farmers for control of their soil-bound carbon

Reuters – The biggest global agriculture companies are competing on a new front: enticing farmers to join programs that keep atmosphere-warming carbon dioxide in the soil. Fertilizer producers Nutrien and Yara, agribusiness giant Cargill, and seed and chemical companies Corteva and Bayer are paying growers for every acre of land dedicated to trapping carbon underground,


vertical tillage equipment in a farm field

The complicated question of tillage

Despite an urgent need to conserve every drop of water, soil experts say a surprising number of producers are still tilling fields this fall

There’s time to till this fall, but that doesn’t mean you necessarily should. That’s the message from Manitoba’s soil specialists, as harvest wraps up on a tremendously dry year — one they worry will end even drier if some of that precious water is lost through weed uptake or extra movement of soil. Why it

Canada is already ahead of the curve in addressing climate change within agriculture, at least relative to large swaths of the global community.

Comment: Can Canada lead on ag at upcoming climate talks?

There’s a new push to address agriculture’s contribution to global pollution

A new, particularly stark warning about climate change shows Canadian agriculture could be a lighthouse to other nations trying to mitigate greenhouse gases. Word that global warming is “widespread, rapid, and intensifying” has likely spread across the country by now. Yet another report, this one from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),



Potassium and drought: A twofold water uptake problem

Potassium and drought: A twofold water uptake problem

Poor moisture can cause vicious cycle of poor potassium uptake, which can lead to less efficient water use

Drought has put potassium back on the radar for many farmers and agronomists across the region. Near the beginning of July, corn growth and development reached the stage where potassium deficiencies become quite apparent, and widespread dry soil conditions worsened the problem. In some instances, corn is displaying potassium deficiency symptoms on soils with medium


wade barnes

Big ag goes headhunting for carbon offsets

EMERGING | In a wild, wild west of carbon programming services, should producers buy in (or rather sell in) to the sales pitch?

As Canadian and U.S. carbon markets heat up, big ag companies are throwing their hats into the carbon offset program ring and looking to recruit farmers to produce those offsets. This June, fertilizer giant Nutrien rolled out a plan to expand its pilot carbon program which began last year. With about 200,000 acres enrolled in

Two Raven OMNiPower (formerly DOT) machines at work in the field. (RavenPrecision.com)

CNH to buy Raven Industries

Heavy equipment maker to pay US$2.1 billion for precision ag firm

The parent company behind Case IH, New Holland, Flexi-Coil and Steyr farm equipment is set to absorb a significant U.S. supplier of precision ag tech to its product lines and others. CNH Industrial on Monday announced a friendly all-cash agreement to buy up all shares in Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Raven Industries for about US$2.1


A certified crop adviser says Canadian farmers are losing close to $3 billion a year due to lost productivity caused by degraded, unhealthy soil.

Tending to your farm’s factory floor: its soil

The health of your farmland can have a big impact on your bottom line

In any manufacturing business productivity is a matter of managing the building, the machinery and the workforce to put the product together in a cost-effective way. In farming, soil is the factory floor and growing a profitable crop is a matter of managing the biology and chemistry of the field within the limits imposed by

Many people with livestock are searching for grazing land and a growing number of farmers are thinking about integrating livestock into their farms.

MOA soil health project to match livestock producers, landowners

Livestock integration, reduced tillage, perennials and cover crops to get a boost on organic farms with Conservation Trust funding

A website that will pair landowners with livestock producers in search of grazing land, and a cost-shared consultant agronomy program are two projects the Manitoba Organic Alliance (MOA) is taking on in a project called “Improving soil stewardship on Manitoba organic farms” funded by the Conservation Trust. “Organic farms are really well positioned to be