The hottest run-up in the wheat market since 2008 prompted the Canadian Wheat Board to issue a special market advisory last week to alert farmers to potential pricing opportunities. David Boyes, the board’s commodity risk manager, said two market fundamentals – severe drought in Russia and excessive moisture cutting production in Western Canada – were
Wheat Markets Up 50 Per Cent – for Aug. 12, 2010
Wheat Markets Up 50 Per Cent – for Aug. 12, 2010
The hottest run-up in the wheat market since 2008 prompted the Canadian Wheat Board to issue a special market advisory last week to alert farmers to potential pricing opportunities. David Boyes, the board’s commodity risk manager, said two market fundamentals – severe drought in Russia and excessive moisture cutting production in Western Canada – were
The Last Straw – for Aug. 5, 2010
Cattle producers whose pastures are flooded and forage producers whose stands are drowned may well be in need of assistance this year, just like producers of annual crops. However, there are good reasons why the province should be reluctant to comply with a request to waive Crown lease fees to ranchers whose grazing lands are
Weed Control Will Never Be Simple Again – for Jul. 29, 2010
Sid Fogg, a mixed grain and cotton farmer near the Arkansas-Tennessee border, said by the time he realized the patches of pigweed (Palmer amaranth) growing in his field were resistant, they had spread out of control. He tried using a higher rate of glyphosate, but it had no effect. So he switched to another herbicide,
End Of An Era – for Jul. 29, 2010
It was dry in the late 1980s, and farmers were told by the herbicide manufacturer that’s why their favoured herbicide – trifluralin (Treflan) – wasn’t doing its job. But two public extension workers in Manitoba, the late Ian Morrison, a weed scientist with the University of Manitoba, and Barry Todd with the soils and crops
Don’t Be Complacent About Herbicide Resistance – for Jul. 29, 2010
The integrated pest management message being drummed into southern U. S. farmers sounds strangely familiar to a Canadian’s ears. Rotating crops and herbicide modes of action has been at the top of the crop-management list on the Prairies for decades. Whereas Prairie farmers typically follow three-to four-year rotation cycles, there are fields in this part
Glyphosate-Resistant Weeds Take Over The South – for Jul. 29, 2010
In his deep southern drawl, crop consultant Ford Baldwin summed up the weed control disaster facing Arkansas soybean and cotton farmers with a tale of two pickups. “A typical Arkansas farmer’s pickup four or five years ago would have had a beer cooler, a set of jumper cables, a few tools, maybe a jug of
Noxious Weed Or Crop Of The Future? – for Jul. 29, 2010
If he wasn’t so busy trying to help farmers snuff it out, University of Arkansas weed scientist Ken Smith says he would be studying Palmer amaranth out of pure interest. Some of the very things that make amaranth – known as pigweed – such a formidable weed also flag its potential as a food crop.
A “Rally” Good Idea
Some of the biggest blessings in life are the things we take for granted. Like, living in a free and peaceful country, having access to good and plentiful food and being able to watch our youth grow in a safe and nurturing environment. One of the greatest blessings here in rural Manitoba is our ability
Celebrating Canada
Canadians are masters of understatement when it comes to celebrating our national pride. Whereas our neighbours to the south belt out the Star Spangled Banner at every opportunity, the national anthem at Canadian events is usually performed, rather than participated in. Everyone but the singer stands awkwardly at attention, some of us humming and only