After four years and considerable controversy, Canada’s grain industry has revamped its proposed code of practice by turning it into a sustainability “tool.” A cross-Canada working group developed the guide, which is focused on practices already widely employed by farmers and on raising awareness of that stewardship, according to the chair of the Canadian Roundtable
Proposed grain code morphs into sustainability ‘tool’
Group revamps controversial code after extensive consultations with buyers and farmers
Strip till: It’s new, it’s tricky and you can’t ask the neighbours for advice
On paper, strip-till is an excellent way to reduce erosion and improve soil health, but there’s a learning curve
Glacier FarmMedia – Being a pioneer isn’t easy, but sometimes it can pay off. Or at least that’s what John Kolk hopes. Over the past few years, the southern Alberta farmer has been using strip tillage on row crops such as dry beans, corn and soybeans. Although the system hasn’t been a big earner in
Palliser Triangle: It’s hot and dry — and the next frontier for canola
With crush capacity soaring, canola council looks to the brown soil zone and new heat-tolerant varieties
Glacier FarmMedia – The canola industry has its eyes on the Prairies’ most inhospitable regions and knows potential growers will need support. The Canola Council of Canada is setting up research it hopes will drive sustainable canola growth in the brown soil zones of the Palliser Triangle, one of the hottest, driest regions of the Prairies. With canola
In the battle to reduce cow burps, seaweed takes centre stage
Everyone’s hyped over GHG-fighting seaweed, but is it safe and does it make sense?
Glacier FarmMedia – Cow burps continue to be headline news, with many — from Bill Gates to a Calgary startup — backing seaweed to save the planet from methane-belching cattle. But despite the hype, slipping a little seaweed into cattle feed is unproven science that needs more study, says one of the leading experts on
Feed at night, birth by day? It might work, but is it worth it?
Feeding pregnant cows in the evening may increase the odds of daytime calving, but there’s a but
Glacier FarmMedia – Feeding pregnant cows at night may increase the chances that they will conveniently calve in daytime. “I think there could be some merit,” said Dr. Cody Creelman. “I’ve had several clients over the years try it. Several have thought it’s perhaps a good feeding method and they think that it does have the desired effect.” While not having
Search for the holy grail of N fertilizer continues
The jury is still out on products containing nitrogen-fixing bacteria
Real-world tests of nitrogen-fixing bacteria products conducted across the Prairies have shown limited promise, but farm groups aren’t throwing in the towel. “I’m not ready to close the book on these trials just yet,” said Laura Schmidt, a production specialist with Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers. In 2022, MPSG ran 10 trials with Envita, which uses naturally occurring bacteria to take
Excess crop residue a yield-robbing issue on many farms
It’s a problem everywhere — mismatched choppers and harrows that don’t fix the problem, agronomist says
Throughout his travels as a consultant, Phil Needham has noticed producers continue to struggle with residue management to the detriment of crop emergence, plant counts and yield. Many residue management woes come down to two pieces of equipment: harrows and mismatched choppers on combines, said Needham, who operates an agronomy services company in Kentucky. “I
Farmers cash in on interest-free loans
This summer the federal government upped the interest-free portion of the Advance Payments Program
Manitoba administrators of the Advance Payments Program say clients are making use of the increased interest-free portion and borrowing more money. “The amount of the advances have [increased] significantly,” said Randy Ozunko, who manages the program for the Manitoba Pork Council. The APP is federally funded and administered by producer groups. It offers up to
Be safe and profitable when storing grain
Best practices for safety and preventing spoilage in bins frequently cross over, says safety expert
Glacier FarmMedia – The pre-harvest season is a good time to think about best practices around grain bin safety. Sounds like one more set of things to do on top of about a million others, right? Not necessarily, said a farm safety specialist. Those already taking action to minimize grain spoilage are also eliminating safety
Large bins may be too large when it comes to drying canola
Bins hold a lot more these days -- and that makes it challenging to push air through small seeds, such as canola
When is a grain bin too big to allow for proper drying? When it comes to canola, leading researchers may now have an idea. The Prairie Agriculture Machinery Institute (PAMI) found that commonly used conditioning fans stall when canola is piled too high in a tall grain bin. Adding an extra fan in parallel didn’t
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