Agripod

Measuring the environmental sustainability of farming. The National Index on Agri-Food Performance is focused on developing a set of indicators and metrics that measures these practices across the agriculture and agrifood sector will allow Canada to back up its sustainability claims. Protein Industries Canada C.E.O. Bill Greuel says this will strengthen the country's reputation and global brand an...

The US and Canada are scheduled to receive rare malting barley cargoes from Argentina and Australia as drought conditions in North America last summer have weighed on both countries' production of crop. Will this result in more barley being grown on the prairies? Zenneth Faye, the new chair of the Barley Council of Canada will talk about production prospects and what he is planning for his own far...

Eight farm groups in Canada have called on governments to end the border blockades and restore the flow of goods and animals across the U.S. border. The groups include the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Canadian Pork Council, and the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). CFA second Vice President Todd Lewis will tell us how these prolonged disruptions are affecting shipments of food, livest...

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine are being felt around the world. The agriculture sector is no exception as the uncertainty is having an impact on grain markets. How can farmers plan with another level of uncertainty? Errol Anderson is the president of ProMarket Communications in Calgary. He is going to share his thoughts on the conflict as well as thoughts on the oilseed, pulse, and cattle mar...

Farmers and ranchers were interviewed over the past year for a mental health project organized by Saskatchewan Polytechnic and its research chair for rural health. Patient-advisors, with a background in agriculture, conducted those interviews. Shari Laventure is a grain marketing specialist with Cargill and was one of those advisors. Laventure volunteered for the project as a way to help cope with...

The federal government revealed plans to rebate carbon taxes paid by farmers in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta in the Dec. 14 fiscal update. It was promised, in the lead-up to the federal budget in spring 2021, that it would refund an estimated $100 million to farmers in provinces without federally-approved carbon pricing systems in 2021. Many farmers argue the rebate has fallen shor...

A popular agricultural trade show in Saskatchewan returned after a pandemic break and farmers as well as the agriculture industry welcomed the opportunity to meet face to face again. Scott Lessmeister is the western regional sales manager for Brandt Agricultural products. He'll share what he heard from farmers who are preparing for spring seeding. Farm Credit Canada economists have created a top f...

The 2021 growing season was one of challenges and successes at the Discovery Farm which is adjacent to the Ag in Motion site near Langham, Saskatchewan. The Discovery Farm has released its 2021 Field Report which covers over 20 research and demonstration projects. Many of those projects are conducted in conjunction with industry partners. Blake Weiseth is the applied research lead at the Discovery...

Wheat prices were, at one point, up over 50 per cent September 2021 over the September previous according to Statistics Canada's latest report. The federal agency said it was the largest increase in the grains index since 2008. Strong demand and tightening supplies in Western Canada strengthened both wheat and barley prices. Farmer Bill Gehl is wrapping up an eight-year stint as a past chair and d...

For this episode I've picked two of my favourite stories from the archives and combined them into a unique episode. First, Bob Tosh, a farm and family advisor with MNP. The process of transitioning the farm from one generation to the next is a long and difficult process. What makes it so difficult is each family farm business is unique and no single approach works for everyone. Bob will discuss th...

The current estimate for the drought reduced canola crop is 12.8 million tonnes . . . but those numbers could change. Market analyst Mike Jubinville is projecting Canadian canola exports will be less than half of the usual 10 million tonnes. He explains how this will affect the canola crushing industry which is very important this country. The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association has developed a...

Grocery Prices are Rising. But the farmers' share continues to shrink. National Farmers Union Vice President Stewart Wells says corporate processors and retailers are the ones benefiting. Wells will explain consumers need to know that less and less of the money they spend on food actually makes it back to the farmer and retail food prices are high because meat packers, other large processors,...

There is a growing disparity along the beef supply chain . . . with consumers paying more at the front end and cow/calf producers getting less money on the back end. Throw in high feed costs and the threat of a strike at Cargill's High River Alberta Beef Processing Plant . . . and there is a lot of dis-satisfaction on the farm. Livestock producer and chair of the Alberta Beef Producers Melanie Wow...

Ask any farmer - it doesn’t matter what the commodity prices are if you have no crop to sell. Those short supplies have meant record commodity prices. Neil Townsend of FarmLink Marketing Solutions says there is going to be very high prices this winter on canola, wheat, and barley. Neil will share some thoughts on what to expect in early 2022.   An outspoken advocate and dedicated resear...

The Saskatchewan Seed Growers’ Association has warned farmers that seed supply will be tight in 2022. Drought had an impact on seed production. But grain contracts that need to be filled might tempt seed growers to take grain to the elevator instead of keeping it as seed. Todd Hyra with SeCan talks about how seed production was impacted this year and gives some advice for producers who are s...

A report released by Agri-Food Economic Systems suggests the declining number of mid-sized farms in Canada jeopardises the rural institutions that have traditionally supported farms and farm families. The report explores the potential consequences of the decline in the number of small and, especially, medium-sized farms. Research Lead Dr. Al Mussell will share the results of the report how it impa...

Farmers are seeing the benefits in cover crops. That's according to a University of Manitoba survey reflecting the growing use of cover crops on the Prairies. Callum Morrison, a graduate student at the U of M, created the survey alongside Professor Yvonne Lawley. Morrison says this practice is in the early stage of adoption on the Prairies, there’s not that much information availab...

Farm Credit Canada says, all things considered, 2020 was a pretty good year for Canadian agriculture and food exporters. Chief Economist J.P. Gervais will tell us how Canada’s agriculture and food industry has shown resilience during the pandemic and has the potential to emerge from this even stronger. Canada had the highest year-over-year increase for agriculture commodity exports at 13.8 p...

A new research report was released discussing the needs of Indigenous agricultural producers. Farm Management Canada executive director Heather Watson said Indigenous business owners from across the country talked about what would be helpful to them.  In the last episode of Agripod, Heather discussed the five recommendations that came from the survey. She will discuss how these recommendation...

Farm Management Canada has released a research report investigating the business management needs of Indigenous agricultural producers. "The Path Forward” was made possible through the participation of Indigenous agricultural business owners from across the who participated in surveys, focus groups, and interviews. FMC executive director Heather Watson said they were able to create a picture...

Farmers across Western Canada have received or are awaiting the results of their soil tests in order to make important decisions about fertilizer applications for the year ahead. Canola Council of Canada agronomy specialist Warren Ward says without soil testing, producers are guessing how much nutrients are in the soil and how much fertilizer is needed to hit target yields. He explains how soil sa...

A new report is warning of the potential loss in farm incomes in the billions of dollars if proposed fertilizer reductions come to pass. Meyers Norris Penny compiled the report which stated cutting fertilizer use to reduce on-farm emissions could cost growers nearly $48 billion over the next eight years. Karen Proud with Fertilizer Canada said under Canada’s A Healthy Environment and a Healt...

Crop yields have been seriously impacted by this year's hot weather and lack of rainfall. As a result, many farmers will not be able to meet their contractual obligations to grain companies simply because they don't have the product to sell. Saskatchewan's NDP opposition sent a letter to the government asking them to take immediate action to protect producers who are unable to fulfill the terms of...

Ross McKenzie is a retired soil and crop research scientist with Alberta Agriculture. Ross shared a Tweet where he explained soil sampling to check for nutrient carryover would be important this year in order to prepare for the 2022 crop. On the last episode Ross shared why it’s important to sample at the right time. He's back to give some guidelines for sampling and gives a list of labs tha...

The dry conditions prompted a retired soil scientist to send out a tweet telling farmers they need to soil sample this fall to understand what the nutrient carryover will be next spring. Smaller yields likely mean the fertilizer applied in the spring was not used up and could be available for next years crop. Ross McKenzie will explain how the soil test could possibly save farmers money at seeding...