Cochrane

Prairie farmers may have to contend with rust this year, a disease that can significantly impact crop yields.

Dr. Kelly Turkington, a research scientist in plant pathology with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Lacombe, explains that rust spores typically originate from the Pacific Northwest and the Texas-to-Nebraska corridor in the U.S. These spores, which include stripe rust, leaf rust, stem rust, and crown rust in oats, are carried by the wind and usually start appearing in the prairies in June.

Almost no rain has fallen since April 1 in Nipawin and Prince Albert 

Rain has become a rarity in Nipawin, Sask.

In the 30 days of April, Nipawin received one millimetre of precipitation. In the first 27 days of May, the Environment Canada weather station in Nipawin recorded 1.5 mm of rain and snow.

It’s a similar story across the northern agricultural region of Saskatchewan. There’s been almost no rain this spring in Hudson Bay, Carrot River and Prince Albert.

The department says producer engagement, field demonstrations and making data available online are expected of its researchers

Agriculture Canada employs about 380 scientists at its 20 research centres across the country.

Their job?

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This week has seen significant fluctuations in the commodity markets, particularly in wheat and canola prices. Following the U.S. Memorial Day long weekend, wheat prices dropped sharply on Tuesday, falling by $10 to $15 per tonne.

Farmers have been making good progress in the field; so far 88 per cent of the provincial crop in the ground. 

According to Saskatchewan's weekly crop report seeding is most advanced in the southwest at 95 per cent, followed by the west-central region at 94 per cent, the northwest at 93, the northeast at 92, the east central at 81, and the southeast at 80 per cent seeded.

Alberta's government says it's extending the deadline for a former judge to investigate allegations of high-level conflict of interest and arm-twisting in health care contracts.

Former Manitoba provincial court chief judge Raymond Wyant was expected to submit an interim report to the government today, followed by a full report next month.

The government employee facilitating the investigation says the number of documents provided and interviews requested by the former judge means that initial time frame is no longer feasible.

The Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS) has released its third Farmers and Food Price Report.

The report shows that while food prices remain high, the share of the food dollar reaching Saskatchewan farmers continues to decline.

One of the contributors to wind is the Coriolis force. The Coriolis force arises from the fact that the Earth rotates. | Photo: File
Last issue, we talked about how the pressure gradient force is the main driving force of wind in our atmosphere and that it exists due to the unequal heating of the Earth’s surface.

Now, if we were to take a simple look at the Earth, this would mean that the polar regions would have high pressure because they are cold and the equatorial regions would be areas of low pressure because they are warm.

India takes the plunge, but some crop sectors remain hesitant.

May 4, 2025, could be a significant day in the history of agriculture.

On that day, Indian agriculture minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the release of two gene-edited rice varieties.

The announcement signals to the world that India — a country of nearly 1.5 billion people — is committed to gene edited technologies and modern tools to improve crop production.