A worker cleans photovoltaic solar panels inside a solar power plant at Raisan village near Gandhinagar, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, February 11, 2014.

A new climate-smart cash crop — sunshine

Selling surplus solar energy to the grid is a triple-win scenario in India

London / Thomson Reuters Foundation – A pioneering project in one of India’s sunniest states has led to one farmer harvesting what could become the country’s most climate-smart cash crop yet — sunshine. A pilot project by Sri Lanka-based non-profit International Water Management Institute (IWMI) offered farmers the opportunity to sell excess energy generated by solar

Bailey Gitzel sells her cookie sandwiches and French macaroons at the opening day of the Carman Farmers’ Market June 19. The 17-year-old Graysville entrepreneur also sells honey produced from her own beehives. She plans to study agriculture at university.

New specialists, more online resources for small-scale production

The government must act quickly to keep up with needs of a fast-emerging sector, says report chair

Manitoba is acting on the recommendations for improving the working environment of small-scale farmers and processors, says Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Minister Ron Kostyshyn. Last week he and other MAFRD officials were at the St. Norbert Farmers’ Market to introduce the two business development specialists being reassigned in the department to work with these


dairy cattle being milked

Milking it: Israel leads the way in dairy tech

China, India, other Asian countries, now look to Israeli expertise

Decades ago Israeli dairy farmers confronted a quandary — how could they provide milk to a fast-growing population in a country that is two-thirds desert, with little grazing land? They turned to technology, developing equipment that boosted output — from cooling systems to milk meters and biometrics — and have made Israeli cows the most

tractor and discer

Buying or renting occasional-use farm implements

Could renting some equipment, instead of buying it, reduce production costs on your operation?

For Matthew Avison of Arborg, necessity started him off in the equipment rental business. As he explains it, he needed a particular tillage implement on his farm and his only option at the time was to buy one. There was no equipment rental company in the area that could provide him with what he wanted.


Vince McConnell, beef sector business development specialist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, spoke at last month’s Direct Farm Marketing conference.

Bar-code system can link every package of meat to the farm

Ontario-based co-operative offers new tracking options for small and medium-size operations

Telling customers about their farm and how their animals are raised is part of the marketing strategy for grass-fed beef producers, and two tools to help them were demonstrated at the Direct Farm Marketing Conference here last month. “We have some neat systems developing that are great tools to use in the endeavour of producing

cows with RFID tags

Is beef traceability being used to its full potential?

Other countries extend traceability right to the packaging of meat so customers can 
find out what individual animal and farm it came from

As I’ve been travelling this past year, I’ve been astonished by the level of traceability in processing plants abroad. I was welcomed into two plants, on two different continents, with open arms and fantastic hospitality with the only request being I leave my camera outside. Geographically these two businesses couldn’t be further apart but their


Peter Gredig spoke to an audience on the 
use of mobile technology in ag at the 
Manitoba Ag Days held in Brandon, Man., 
last month.

Put mobile technology to use on your farm

Spend more time in the field and less time at a desk with the use of 
mobile technology, Cloud computing and agriculture-geared apps

The next time your combine is making an unfamiliar tickety tickety noise, don’t call your machinery repairman – send them a video message so they can see and hear the problem, farmers attending Ag Days in Brandon were told last month. Today’s mobile technology is a perfect fit for farmers. The ability to access business

Agrimatics internet software application

VIDEO: Agrimatics’ wireless tech uses iPad, smartphones to track grain carts

Manitoba Ag Days Inventor's Showcase: App simplifies calibration process and stores data across multiple devices

Inventions utilizing new technology took front-and-centre at Manitoba Ag Days Inventor’s Showcase last week. Earning second prize in the Inventor’s Showcase was Agrimatics, a tablet and smartphone-based grain cart weighing and calibration application. Heralded as the first-ever tablet and smartphone-based grain cart weighing and data management system, Agrimatics automatically detects how much grain has been


Chris Hawkins with his invention, AgChemExpert.

VIDEO: AgChemExpert takes top honour at Inventor’s Showcase

Manitoba Ag Days Inventor's Showcase: Internet application helps producers choose the right chemical for their needs

Manitoba Ag Days 2015 no doubt left a positive memory with Chris Hawkins as his product, AgChemExpert, won first prize in Manitoba Co-operator’s Inventor’s Showcase. AgChemExpert is an online program that puts over a decade’s worth of crop information in one place to make it easier for producers to select the right chemical application for their needs.

Gift ideas for the weather aficionado

Got a weather watcher among you? Here's a few items to consider for the holiday season

Once upon a time, when you wanted to find that unique weather gadget, the best website to check out was Ambient Weather based in the U.S. While it still stocks what I consider the best assortment of weather instruments, either high or low tech, it no longer ships internationally. So, unless you have some kind