Hursh Comment

With the massive seeding delay, what kind of acreage shifts might there be? Will total seeded acreage in Saskatchewan be down by two million or five million acres? It’s logical to believe there will now be more barley and oats seeded since they require less days to maturity. This may come at the expense of …

Why is it that a lot of older AM radios have far better reach than the radios we have now? I run an old Versatile 875 tractor for seeding. When I got the tractor a couple of years ago, I initially thought the radio didn’t work. Well, the buttons no longer tune to stations, you …

I’ve always admired the old timers who can tell you weather and farming stories from bygone decades. It amazes me how many folks can tell you the year of the big flood or the major drought or the big frost. Well, the spring of 2010 is one for the record books. Precipitation maps from the …

There seems to be a bewildering array of new herbicides on the market, but looks are deceiving. Provincial weed control specialist Clark Brenzil points out that there are only two new active ingredients on the market this year. One of those is Heat from BASF. All the other new product names are just repackaged chemistry …

I heard an interview with our federal agriculture minister and Mr. Ritz was explaining why it took so long to come out with the AgriRecovery program announced yesterday for the livestock industry. According to Gerry Ritz, the $50 per cow and other amounts for other species took so long to announce because they had to …

Saskatchewan is about one more rain away from a very big problem. Depending upon where you look and who you ask, we may already have a very big problem. When it’s the middle of May and there’s a major rain event, the conventional wisdom is, “Don’t worry, there’s still lots of time.” Now, it’s the …

April and May have seen an unprecedented amount of rain over most of Saskatchewan and there’s more rain falling. Precipitation maps compiled by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada show most of the grainbelt has already had more than two times normal precipitation this spring. Much of central Saskatchewan is at a record high. Only the southeast …

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 …