Hursh Comment

Producers and landlords often wonder about cropland lease rates. Unlike land prices that are accessible to the public, there’s no way to actually determine what’s happening with lease rates. Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development sheds some light on this issue by commissioning an annual survey on the topic. The rents reported in the survey vary …

The Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture has come out with its 2010-11 edition of the Farm Machinery Custom and Rental Rate Guide. This is just a guide. There are various assumptions that go into the calculated rates, and the numbers should be adjusted to suit individual circumstances. Still, the publication is a useful starting point whether …

As farmers commiserate about seeding delays, they quote from the latest Environment Canada forecasts and what they’ve seen and heard on The Weather Network. Increasingly, producers are also discussing what World Weather Inc. is predicting. Based out of Kansas, this private forecasting company is gaining a loyal following. For the past few years, Larry Weber …

If the weather forecasts are correct, there’s going to be a lot of crop seeded later than what producers would like to see. The crop report from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture estimates 28 per cent of the provincial crop was seeded as of Tuesday. You can probably tack on another 10 per cent to …

Canola Watch, a weekly report from the Canola Council of Canada, has some interesting production tips: The most recent version reports that sulphate fertilizer supplies are just keeping up with demand. If a supplier runs out when you’re seeding canola, rather than waiting, another option is to broadcast ammonium sulphate. That can be done up …

Hog prices are finally back in profitable territory and there’s growing optimism about price prospects for the beef industry. On top of that, hay and feed grain supplies should be plentiful in most regions of the Prairies this year. After the long run of bad years in the red meat industry, you can’t blame anyone …

GPS satellite systems are going to be non-operational for the next three days…Just kidding, but I bet I caught your attention. It’s amazing how crop agriculture has come to depend on GPS. In just a few short years, there has been a mass conversion of seeding and spraying systems. First it was just light bars …

The federal government has introduced an act to change the voters list for Canadian Wheat Board elections. The Grain Growers of Canada, representing a broad cross-section of grain groups, is applauding the proposed changes. Groups such as the National Farmers Union and Friends of the Canadian Wheat Board are calling it another attack on the …

The crop report for the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture has seeding progress in the province at only five per cent, way behind the five-year average of 24 per cent. However, the five per cent number is a progress estimate as of Monday, May 10. A lot has changed in the past few days as areas …

Saskatchewan Pulse Growers is offering five undergraduate scholarships for first year students enrolled in a degree program at the University of Saskatchewan. Each scholarship is $5,000 so this is some serious money for a university student. A parent of the applicant or the applicant themselves must be a registered pulse producer, meaning they’ve grown pulses …

The Environmental Working Group in the U.S. has released the latest update of its farm subsidy database. The new database tracks $245 billion in American farm payments from 1995 to 2009. The largest farm operations receive the lion’s share of payments. Since 1995, just 10 per cent of farm program recipients have received 74 per …

According to farm input suppliers, BASF has cut the price of Pursuit herbicide by $350 a jug. If you followed this commentary last week, you’ll know that there was a lot about the inflated price of this widely-used product. The Canadian price has been running at nearly $1,100 for a 3.3 litre container, so a …