Farmers — particularly the male version — have a reputation for keeping their feelings hidden. But anyone who thinks emotions don’t affect business decisions on the farm is just fooling themselves. Just take a look at what’s in the yard, farm family coach and succession planner Elaine Froese said at the recent Manitoba Special Crops
Silence isn’t golden if you want the family farm to prosper
Farm family coach and succession planner Elaine Froese says families need to get better at navigating their personal relationships and emotions — because their farm business depends on it
Lynas moves from GM foe to friend
When Mark Lynas took the stage here Jan. 23 as keynote speaker at the 2013 edition of Manitoba Potato Production Days, he knew he was likely a strange and exotic creature to his audience. The British environmentalist and author has been involved in the environmental movement since the mid-1990s and for many years he was
What spring wheat variety is right for you?
Pest and disease challenges are reducing AC Barrie acreage, but the alternatives require some careful thought
Just a few short years ago the questions surrounding planting spring wheat were fairly straightforward — such as how many acres and how did it pencil out. A question that very rarely came up in Manitoba was what variety to plant — it was all but certain that the seed that went into the groundIs soil fumigation worth it in Manitoba potato crops?
Should Manitoba potato growers be following the example of their counterparts south of the border and begin incorporating soil fumigation with Vapam into their management practices? Mario Tenuta, a soil scientist with the University of Manitoba, has been looking into the question, but says drawing conclusions would be premature. “We’re really just starting to get
An early seeding start is not worth the risk
Test plots seeded this April ducked frost but didn’t gain much of a head start because soil temperatures were too low
If you ask a group of farmers what’s at the top of their wish list in early March, many would say an early spring, because it eases the logistical challenges of seeding large acreages and reduces the odds of being caught by an early-autumn frost. This year’s exceptionally early spring had the phones ringing offFiddling with soybean seed depth brings risks
Experts say you’re supposed to plant soybeans one inch deep, give or take a quarter of an inch. But many producers are going deeper when searching for moisture in dry periods, or shallower when the soil is moist and they’re keen to get the crop off to a quick start. More and more growers —
Can you weatherproof your farm?
Plants draw different amounts of moisture from different depths in the soil, and growers can make those differences work for them
Grain farmers are always hoping for a Goldilocks year — not too wet, not too dry, but just right. But since fairy tales rarely come true, researchers with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives are looking for alternative approaches. “It’s led us to wonder how we might weatherproof our crop rotations a bit,” oilseed specialistRow cropping potatoes may be headed over the hill
While potato growers in other regions have seen bed planting come into fashion over the past few years, it’s very early days here in Manitoba. In fact there’s just one operation in the province using the system, the Berry family, at their Glenboro-area Over and Under the Hill Farms. Chad Berry says this is the
Time to put your potatoes to bed
Those long, arrow-straight rows of carefully hilled potato plants are one of the key features of any potato production region — but in a few years they might be a thing of the past, says a soil scientist from USDA. David Tarkalson, a member of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service based in Kimberly, Idaho, thinks
Early-dying complex costs growers but control isn’t easy
It’s a catch-22 for the potato industry on the Northern Plains. The soil harbours verticillium inoculum, which is responsible for the yield-robbing early-dying complex. But one of the most susceptible varieties is Russet Burbank, a dominant variety in the region. “There are resistant varieties, but none of them seem to have gotten much of a
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
