Two large rolls of tile drainage tubing sit in a field ready to be installed.

Tile drainage seen as good way to boost yields

A South Dakota producer says improved draining not only increases plant health but also keeps nutrients on the field

Glacier FarmMedia — Brian Hefty came to Manitoba Ag Days on Jan. 22 to give a speech about how to “push the limits” for crop yields. The South Dakota farmer did focus on crop nutrition and why it’s critical for producers to understand the results of a soil test. However, the first 17 minutes of




Photo: Reuters/Ben Nelms/File

Global crop yields have not kept up with increasing demand 

Sluggish production blamed on adverse weather conditions and high input costs that lead to reduced fertilizer use

The global stocks-to-use ratio for the major crops, excluding China, has been trending down since 2018, Jason Newton, Nutrien’s chief economist, told delegates attending the 24th International Farm Management Association Congress in Saskatoon.

Challenge participants will have to seed at least 80 acres and will be required to use a number of the company’s products.

Yield challenge puts $55,000 in community funds up for grabs

Participants have until March 1 to enrol in Hometown Yield Challenge

Nutrien Ag Solutions hopes its new yield challenge program will tap into farmers’ inner sense of competition. Farmers in Western Canada have until March 1 to enrol in the Hometown Yield Challenge. The competition will stack producer harvest totals against each other in November. The two top-yielding growers will choose a local organization to be



(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

More local barley destined for rations, but U.S. corn still moving

Prior to drought year 2021/22, Canadian corn imports had rarely topped two million tonnes

Recently revised supply/demand tables from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada raised the forecast for domestic barley usage in the current crop year to 6.155 million tonnes. That compares with an earlier forecast of 5.471 million tonnes. If realized, that would be up by roughly 200,000 tonnes from the previous year.



Manitoba Co-operator reporter Allan Dawson received 2.7 inches of rain at his home near Miami. Man., June 9 — the most rain he received in one event during the 2021 growing season. The tap turned off in July with just 0.8 inch recorded the whole month. While it was dry around Miami, some parts of the province, including the Interlake, received much less.

The drought of 2021 won’t soon be forgotten

Dry weather and near-record heat ended a string of bumper Manitoba crops

Late last winter a farmer friend shared his concern about the 2021 growing season. We’d had almost no snow in southern Manitoba and the previous fall and summer had been dry too. It felt like drought. He was right. As someone present for both I’d say 2021 was the worst drought here since 1988. This

A sunflower field in north Winnipeg in 2018. Total sunflower seed production fell more than 20 per cent in 2021.

Manitoba crops down across the board: StatCan

From spring wheat to dry beans, Manitoba farmers self-reported lower yields

Manitoba farmers reported a decrease in production of spring wheat, canola, soybeans, corn for grain, oats, barley, dry beans and sunflower seeds. The 2021 estimates come from a StatCan survey of 3,133 Manitoba farmers conducted from October 8 to November 12. Spring wheat Total spring wheat production fell 29.2 per cent to 3.7 million tonnes