Hursh Comment

During this extended harvest delay, harvest plans are changing. I’ve heard from producers in some areas who are planning to leave their lentil fields sit and concentrate on their canola when the weather finally allows. The lentil crop is going to be hard to scrape off the ground and in many cases it’s going to …

With a House of Commons vote looming over the future of the long gun registry, the debate has gotten off track. I’m sure urban Canadians wonder what the big deal is. They have to register their dogs and cats. Why shouldn’t long guns be registered? The simple answer – because it doesn’t help anything. Let’s …

You can’t do anything about the weather, but it’s difficult to wait for decent harvest conditions, while watching the crop deteriorate. It’s a feeling of helplessness. There’s so much work to be done and so little you can do when the weather doesn’t cooperate. If you’re like me, you check the weather forecast umpteen times …

According to information compiled by Canfax and reported by Saskatchewan Agriculture, calf prices through Saskatchewan auction markets continued to strengthen last week. This was especially true for lightweight feeder calves where average prices were up about 7.5 cents a pound as compared to the previous week. Prices are significantly better than last year at this …

Are you frustrated yet? It has become the year of never-ending rain and frost is in the forecast. Precipitation maps from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada show that in the thirty days leading up to September 9, about 80 per cent of the Saskatchewan grain belt had more than two times normal rainfall. Since September 9, …

This late, difficult harvest is going to have some wide-ranging ramifications. Seeding plans for winter wheat are being disrupted. Many producers had hoped to seed winter wheat on land that didn’t get seeded this spring. As it turns out, many of those acres are still too wet. And there aren’t many fields of canola harvested …

Saskatchewan Business Magazine has just come out with its listing of the Top 100 Companies in Saskatchewan. The ranking is based on gross Saskatchewan sales figures. At the top this year is Viterra. Federated Co-op is number two with PotashCorp number 3. Companies with a direct tie to agriculture figure prominently in the list.  In …

A great deal of money is at stake over the grading of this year’s lentil crop. On top of the disease issues, wet harvest weather is causing bleaching and sprouting and wrinkled seed coats. Top quality product is going to be in short supply so there are large price spreads between the grades.  There’s going …

Canadian Wheat Board elections are being held this fall in the odd-numbered districts. An interesting race is shaping up in District 3, which is southwest Saskatchewan and part of southeast Alberta. Two candidates are throwing their hats into the ring and more will no doubt follow. District 3 has long been represented by Larry Hill …

An organization called the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council wants to hear from small-scale farm operators across Canada regarding their labour needs, whether they are farming full-time or part-time, alone or with help. The council is currently conducting research on the labour requirements of farm operations with annual gross receipts of less than $100,000. Statistically …

Take advantage of any little break you get in the weather. As I read emails from producers around the province, that’s a theme that emerges this year. Whether it was seeding, weed control, or now harvest, the producers with the best success are those who jumped on any reasonable window of opportunity to get the …

It could be considered an inadvertent intercropping experiment. Over the years, a number of farmers have tried growing peas with canola. This year, I have a 170 acre field that’s a mixture of large green lentils and oriental mustard. It wasn’t intentional. By the time I realized there were so many mustard volunteers in the …