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It might have been the end of the line for the old tractor. Instead, with advice from near and far and a single flat washer, the tractor has a shot at another seeding season. The problem was evident as soon as we hooked to the new-to-us seed drill. The drill lifted just fine, but it …

Sometimes a market goes bonkers and that’s what has happened with lentils. Whenever craziness ensues, there are inevitably negative consequences and it will be no different with this bit of insanity. Sky-high record price levels are certainly a good news story for producers lucky enough to sell into this rapidly rising market, but observers are …

You can question the pasteurization of milk, express concern over the safety of common disease vaccinations and doubt the safety of GM foods and incur fewer wraths than if you challenge the holy grail of climate change. For the record, I side with science on pasteurization, vaccination and biotechnology, but climate change science isn’t in …

After watching from the sidelines for a couple years, I’m ready (I think) to experiment with intercropping. Intercropping certainly isn’t a new idea. It probably reached its height of popularity in Western Canada with peola, a mixture of peas with canola. The peas fixed nitrogen for the canola while the canola gave the peas upright …

Crop                Yield              Price            Expense/Ac           Net/Ac HRSW                38                  5.50                      210                   (1) Durum                37         …

The sprayer booms were being folded up for the last time after another fungicide application on the chickpeas. It did not go well. The left boom tip did its normal high aerial arc, but lodged on the top of the frame before sliding into place. “Need to adjust the alignment a bit,” I thought while …

The grain transportation backlog has put Statistics Canada field crop reporting under the microscope. Why didn’t we know that a huge crop was coming last year? How were the railways supposed to gear up when initial estimates were tens of millions of tonnes below what was actually produced? Suddenly, the entire industry has a graphic …

By August, the federal government plans to pass legislation strengthening Plant Breeders’ Rights so that this nation will finally conform to the international UPOV’91 treaty. The National Farmers Union continues to raise alarm bells over the change and their fear mongering resonates with those who like to view farmers as the victims of big business. …

There are no easy answers, no quick fixes to the grain logistics backlog, but make no mistake, the primary source of the problem lies with the railways. They haven’t supplied enough cars and locomotives to match the huge crop that needs to move. Even if they allocated more resources to grain movement, some observers say …

Slowly, but steadily, the anti-GMO forces are winning. For evidence, you need to look no further than the decision by General Mills to make its original Cheerios non-GMO. Social media has become the dominant public relations weapon and the anti-science crowd used it to effectively target Cheerios over the past year. The ramifications may seem …

Notice to A&W. You have lost my business. Even though you have rural restaurants that I’ve often patronized, I’ll try my best to eat elsewhere from now on. Major players in the food business are increasingly making decisions that have no basis in science. A&W says their burgers are better because the beef has been …

“We’re getting old you know,” reminds my long-time friend who is helping with seeding. The comment usually comes at the end of a long day or during a task that’s particularly taxing. “Naw, we aren’t old yet,” I say in response. “In ten or 15 years, we may start to be getting old, but right …