With almost no fanfare, Saskatchewan has passed a new greenhouse gas bill that should theoretically provide a mechanism for farmers to be paid for carbon credits. However, the devil will be in the details and the regulations for the bill have yet to be established. Observers worry that when the dust clears, farmers will not
Carbon Credit Market In Doubt
Crop Dollars Washed Away
What’s the price tag to the crops sector from this record rainfall spring? Great question, but it’s very difficult to answer. Flooding damage to homes, businesses and roads will gradually be assessed with a high degree of accuracy. Replacement values can be estimated. You can’t simply rebuild a crop that’s been lost. Now that the
Avoid Hasty Response To Unseeded Acreage
A s the seeding window closes, the unseeded acreage projections are staggering. But it’s difficult to know how governments should respond or if they should respond at all. The Canadian Wheat Board says Western Canada will have the lowest wheat acreage since 1971. Barley acreage is expected to be the lowest since 1965. Pressure is
Wanted: Accurate Farm Weather Forecasts
It would be great to have even longer-range forecasts with reasonable accuracy, but I’m not convinced that is possible. Talking about the weather is a Canadian pastime and an obsession among grain producers. There’s been a lot to talk about this spring, with a big low-pressure system often following close on the heels of the
Abnormal Times For Agriculture
For a number of reasons, it’s an unusual spring for agriculture. Typically, there’s a spring moisture shortage somewhere in Saskatchewan. It was certainly shaping up that way in western areas after a winter with below-normal precipitation. But the rain and snow started falling in early April and hasn’t stopped. Drought has been averted in the
Herbicide Import Causes Maze Of Issues
Unfortunately, most growers are bringing in Pursuit for what is actually an unregistered use. Farmers are importing a popular herbicide called Pursuit from the United States and saving a pile of money. That’s good news for the producers involved, but there are a lot of unfortunate consequences. Pursuit is a long-standing product from the crop
Sask. Farmland Prices Remain Strong
Producers are always interested in farmland prices, but price tags vary a great deal from one area to another and even from one parcel of land to the next. There’s a lot of talk about a big land deal around Conquest, just west of Outlook. In the last couple months, approximately 85 parcels of land
Potential Benefits From Livestock ID
Here in Canada, we’re enhancing our livestock identification programs. Individual cattle ID with radio frequency eartags (RFID), age verification, premise ID, animal movement records – about the only thing that isn’t planned is a GPS locator attached to each individual animal. Incredibly, American efforts for a National Animal Identification System are back to Square 1.
Catering To Affluence
We often fail to recognize just how rich and spoiled we’ve become. The upward affluence trajectory, happening in much of the world, is having a profound impact on what people want from agriculture. Futurist Lowell Catlett from New Mexico State University recently told the Managing Excellence in Agriculture conference in Saskatoon, that recessions happen from
The Colour Of Farm Politics
A lot of Europeans travel but don’t seem to worry about consuming GM crops while on holiday in another country. Green is the new Red. In other words, a big part of the Green movement is fuelled by people with a philosophy that used to be called Red – a philosophy that’s anti-business and anti-development.
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
