Most cattle-breeding programs have long concentrated on fast-growing traits in the calves. Now Brazilian researchers are targeting other traits, such as meat tenderness and the size of the rib-eye muscle area. They’re doing so by studying the genome of the Gir cattle breed, common in that country, and have identified 35 genes that are associated
Gene research could beef up the herd
Brazilian researchers identify 35 genes associated with various attributes
The Campbell Farming Corporation
Our History: November 1928
The November 1928 front page of our predecessor publication The Scoop Shovel featured photos of the Campbell Farming Corporation in Montana. Wikipedia says that “Thomas D. Campbell (1882–1966) was the ‘World’s Wheat King.’ On the farms of his Campbell Farming Corporation he grew more wheat than any other farmer or corporation. He pioneered industrialized corporate
Crow era ends on the Prairies
Our History: November 1983
Our Nov. 24, 1983 issue reported the end of a long and contentious era in Prairie grain history when royal assent was given to a bill ending the Crowsnest freight rate. While the end of the below-cost rate may not have been welcomed by farmers, it was by CP Rail, which immediately announced it was
A dietary mismatch
Agriculture produces plenty of food, but not necessarily the right types
If everyone on the planet wanted to eat a healthy diet, there wouldn’t be enough fruit and vegetables to go around. A team of researchers at the University of Guelph compared global agricultural production with nutritionists’ consumption recommendations and found a drastic mismatch. “We simply can’t all adopt a healthy diet under the current global
Most Canadian farmers praise quick passage of CPTPP law
New opportunities and a levelled playing field with other agriculture exporters are lauded
Canada’s grain farmers and other export-oriented producers have issued statements praising the Canadian government for quickly passing legislation ratifying the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) paving the way for Canadian farmers to see increased export volumes that could result in higher farm revenues as early as next spring. Alberta Wheat and Barley
PHOTOS: This Old Elevator: October 2018
The Manitoba Historical Society wants to gather information about all the grain elevators in Manitoba
In the 1950s, there were over 700 grain elevators in Manitoba. Today, there are fewer than 200. You can help to preserve the legacy of these disappearing “Prairie sentinels.” The Manitoba Historical Society (MHS) is gathering information about all elevators that ever stood in Manitoba, regardless of their present status. Collaborating with the Manitoba Co-operator it is supplying these
Endless savings on diesel fuel
Our History: October 1981
Style and cab comfort were features promoted in this ad for the International Harvester S-Series Sundance truck in our Oct. 29, 1981 issue. If you were buying one on credit, the interest rate would have been more that 20 per cent, and our main front-page story that week was on a spat between federal Agriculture
Space… the final farming frontier
Treatment with one plant hormone appears to make space farming possible
With scarce nutrients and weak gravity, growing potatoes on the moon or on other planets seems unimaginable. But the plant hormone strigolactone could make it possible, plant biologists from the University of Zurich have shown. The hormone supports the symbiosis between fungi and plant roots, thus encouraging plants’ growth — even under the challenging conditions
Lands for sale on easy terms
Our History: October 1886
If you were looking to start farming in 1886, there was plenty of land to choose from in these advertisements in the Oct. issue of the Nor-West Farmer and Manitoba Miller. The Hudson’s Bay Company was offering seven million acres and the Manitoba and North-Western Railway 2.75 million acres. The unnamed author of an article
Box it up
Researchers say ‘control boxes’ could limit nitrate run-off from tile drains
Tile drainage is a boon in a wet spring but it can also increase nitrate run-off into nearby waterways and eventually lakes and even the ocean. The answer, when the problem was first discovered in the 1980s, was to develop “edge of field” practices, keeping saturated strips of natural landscape near streams to remove nitrates,